


New Old, Life?

by Archunks20



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Fix-It of Sorts, Protective Uchiha Itachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 112,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25878559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archunks20/pseuds/Archunks20
Summary: Five friends are reborn in the world of Naruto. Slowly regaining their memories, they make a life for themself's not truly understanding what happened to them. But there are other dark forces at play than just what their past-lives old memories would have to offer them the story of Naruto. What's their real story, and why are shadows chasing them.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Itachi/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Izumi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter One: New Life

**Author's Note:**

> This story was just a fun idea cooked up by my friend as a sort of stress relief and me. It has been very fun working on it. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be. We'll keep going till the story works itself out. Somethings might not be entirely right about the Naruto universe, but I will try to get the most important details right. However, somethings will change; this is fanfiction. So, it's fun to have fun with the story and see what changes could happen.
> 
> Anyway, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the Naruto series.
> 
> I do own Kaida, Keina, Kannon, Kuma, Kin. They are mine and my friend's own wacky creation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm changing some things that will happen in the plot later on. I feel like these changes will fit better with where the plot will be going later. 
> 
> Two gifted twins work on navigating the ninja life they have chosen to live in. As they build new bonds and make friends in unexpected places, long-forgotten memories start to arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be time skips to get us to the arc we need to be at. New characters will be introduced as the story continues on. Naruto and his team will be in this story it will just be a while until they show up, hopefully not too many chapters though.

The bright morning light shone brightly against the cloudless blue sky. A warm breeze slipped through the open window, blowing the curtains in its way. Kichi sighed, swaying back and forth slightly humming a tune to herself, as she stood looking out the kitchen window of her farmhouse. She had just finished laying out breakfast for her six-year-olds. She thought back to that day almost a year ago when the demon fox had attacked the village. A lot of their farm had been damaged, but they were slowly repairing it, with the help of a few Uchiha ninja that brought vegetables, fruit, and meat from her and her husband. She and her husband hadn’t known what to do during the invasion except try to get to safety with their three-infant daughters and two five-year-olds. They had been out in the village that night, nowhere near their farm, which had been damaged by debris. They had been caught in the middle of chaos. They had been shocked beyond belief when Kaida had fought to protect them and had thrown fire from her hand using chakra. Keina had aided her sister in defending her family, keeping their father from being crushed to death by falling remains of buildings and land. Her girls were so special. She knew it from the moment they were all born, just watching them grow up. They were different, smart, all in their unique way. They had a special bond with each other and their three younger sisters. She hoped they would keep that bond strong as they grew. She worried that the paths they’d chosen for themselves would lead them to danger.

"Kaida, Keina… Girls, are you ready,"

"I've been up since three, Mother," a soft voice spoke from Kichi’s back.

"Ahh, Kaida," Kichi exclaimed, hand clutching her apron, staring down at her daughter. Her daughter, who was just standing there watching her. With those steely blue-gray eyes, long light blue hair already braided for the day. "How many times have I told you not to do that, young lady,"

"I'm practicing concealing my chakra, Mother. I've been sneaking up on different people all week, " Kaida replied, kneeling at the low table in their dining room. Eyes roving over the layout of steamed rice with ikura, miso soup, grilled fish, rice balls, natto, and pickled vegetable salad. Their mother did like to make them a lot for breakfast even though she had asked more than once for a simpler breakfast.

"It's true, Mom, Kaida nearly gave the teachers heart attacks the other day," came the high pitch voice of the women's other daughter as she bounded down the stairs.

"Oh, my babies, you’re growing up so fast,"

“We aren’t babies. You have babies. Their upstairs asleep,”

"Kichi, is breakfast ready?"

"Yes, dear," she called to her husband. She could hear his footsteps as he made his way down the hallway from their front door. He had been out early this morning tending to the animals and plants. She gave him a small smile as he came into the kitchen.

"Great, hurry up and eat Kaida's teachers want us to come in today and speak with them about her taking the graduation exam,"

"What? The girls are that ahead. What about Keina?" Kichi asked, looking over to her other daughter. Her girls were almost the spitting image of each other. Kaida was shorter than, Keina by about half an inch, and Keina’s eyes were lighter than Kaida. That was about the only discernible physical difference. Now, the girls were as different as night and day when it came to their personalities. At the same time, they were both extremely well behaved and, mostly, polite children. Kaida had a terrifying temper, and she wasn’t sure where it came from. Keina was a sweet, kind child, but she still could have quite a temper that could rival her sisters. She was just more selective with showing it.

"We’re going to talk about her too… I'm very proud of you girls. No one in our family has been a ninja, and here you girls are… So successful," their Father said between bites of food.

"Keina isn’t successful at fighting," Kaida said, cutting her eyes over at her sister, who sat beside her. She quite enjoyed teasing her sister.

"I do fine. You aren’t as good at chakra control as I am," Keina snorted, pointing out something her sister wasn’t too great at herself.

"Girls," Their Father warned at the sound of their jabs. He was usually much more tolerable of his daughter’s jabs and teasing, but right now, they didn’t have time. They all needed to eat and get ready to get going for the day. He wanted to get this talk with their teachers done so he could get back and work on the farm.

"We aren’t fighting Father, just making observations," Kaida sighed, rolling her eyes down at the table. She felt a nudge at her side; her sister was giving her a warning look about her eye roll.

“Are you going, Kichi, or are you going to stay home with the babies and let me handle it?” he asked, glancing up at his wife over his bowl of food.

“They had a bad night last night. I just got them down a few hours ago… I’m going to stay here and get some sleep,” Kichi said as she started to clean up the mess from their breakfast meal.

………………………………….. 

“Ugg, I can’t believe he gets to take the gradation test before us,” Kaida huffed, kicking the new post she had just put in the ground.

“Hey, go take your anger out on something else. Yeah… It’s taking us twice as long to build this fence,” Keina yelled from her kneeled position, nailing the vertical post to the horizontal ones her sister just put up.

“Whatever… I mean, Itachi’s not that great. I’ll I ever hear at school is how great he is… All the girls go-”

“Are you jealous, sister?”

“Those girls are older than him one so ew. Two they are pathetic, oh Itachi’s walking, oh he’s so cute,”

“You’re jealous,” Keina mumbled to her herself as she finished the part of the fence they were working on. While her sister continued with her rant. Keina stopped in her nailing to look back up at her sister, whose face turned red at her words. Making her snicker, _‘Oh, wouldn’t be great if Kaida ends up dating Itachi when we are older,’_ she thought, laughing to herself. Oh, if that happened, she’d never let her sister forget this moment.

“I can do everything he does, and I have to wait four months to take the graduation exam… That is so... Ugg,” Kaida growled, throwing her arms up.

“Ah, yes… You are smart sis, so am I, but he is better at all things ninja than us. You should just accept it. He has always been one step ahead,” Keina sighed, shaking her head. She was competitive sure, but Kaida took it to a whole new level. An unhealthy one. Her sister took Itachi's talent for what it was hard work. She wasn't like some of the other kids at school who hated him for being so good. No, she understood he worked hard. It just drove her competitive sister up a wall that he was always ahead of her no matter how hard she trained. But, they did pretty amazing if you asked her for coming from a non-ninja family. They learn from watching the young ninja around them when they were kids and just picked up what they could. Learned even more at school and learned it fast. “You know we won’t be graduating till spring of next year, right, despite when we take the exam… We’ll have to wait for less time than Itachi to graduate formally,” her sister didn’t respond.

“Hey, look who it is,” The girls turned their heads at the loud voice calling at them to see none other than Itachi Uchiha, who Kaida had just been ranting about, and Shisui Uchiha walking towards them. Keina glance over to her sister, who had schooled her features staring down the boy she had just been ranting about. Keina rolled her eyes. Her sister would get over being pissed off at Itachi one of these days. Well, maybe.

“Keina, Kaida, my two favorite twins,” Shisui smiled, walking up to them with Itachi trailing beside him.

“We’re the only twins, you know,” Kaida rolled her eyes.

“What do you want?” Keina asked, ignoring her sister’s ire for the moment.

“Well our moms sent us to get some fresh produce since they love you mom’s vegetable so much, and your mom said we could have them for free if we help you with the fence,” Shisui said gesturing to barley begun fence, “And from the looks of it you could some help,”

“Kaida, I heard about you being allowed to take the graduation exam in four months. Congratulations!” Itachi nodded with a small smile, looking over to Kaida. He was one of few people at the academy who could tell her from her sister. Not that he thought it was hard. They didn’t look that much alike, in his opinion anyway. Kaida was smaller than her sister, and her personality was vastly different. 

“And you’re getting to take the graduation exam in a week,” Kaida responded, crossing her arms glaring at Itachi.

Shisui looked over between his cousin, who just looked confused at the look on Kaida’s face. For how smart Itachi was, girls did confuse him. He could use more friends, friends who wanted to be friends, and Shisui thought Kaida would be a good friend to Itachi. That was if he could get the stubborn, anti-social kids to spend more time together. Considering Itachi usually only spent time with his family and Kaida was the same. Speaking of which, “Hey Kaida, why don’t you and your sister train with Itachi and me… It could really help you prepare for your exam and give Itachi a new challenge,”

“Sounds good… Let’s go,” She responds, dragging Itachi off, who just looked back at him with a look as if to say, _‘What do I do.’_

“Well, I didn’t mean now, but sure you two train. Keina and I will just fix the fence,” Shisui sweet dropped, watching his cousin be dragged off into the forest by the small blue hair copy of the child beside him.

“Don’t bother… Kaida’s angry he’s graduating before her, that’ll give her something to take that out on, and he gets to be her punching bag,”

“Itachi’s no one’s punching bag,”

“Neither is my sister, so it should be a good spar. We’ll get more work done with Itachi keeping Kaida busy. She’s been madding all day,”

“She jealous of Itachi,”

“She works hard. He’s always a step ahead of her. It drives her crazy,” Keina commented, continuing her work on the fence with Shisui’s help.

“All three of you are geniuses. There’s a lot of kids that you three are leaving in the dust,” he said, looking down at the smaller kid.

“That’s true. I’m not sure why my sister’s so fixed on being better than Itachi, but she is, and she’s my sister, so I’m backing her,”

“You think there’s more to it? You know Itachi talks about her, talks about her quite a bit,” he asked, looking back at the forest.

“We’re kids,” Keina laughed, looking up at Shisui. Though she did catch his meaning, she was a genius after all, and she would be graduating from the academy just a few months after her sister. “Though there might be will be when we are older,”

……………

“How do you do that with the fire?” Itachi asked, sitting down to rest after their spar. He watched Kaida as she sat down beside him. Raising an eyebrow at his question. Itachi was truly curious about how she created the fire she molded around her hands into fireballs. The fire never burned her. It was unlike any fire jutsu he knew of, and he had studied many. 

“It’s a secret… How do you fight so well, hmm? No matter how much I train. I still can’t beat you,” Kaida asked, watching Itachi from where she set. When he stayed silent, she said, “Look, I’ll tell a good friend,”

“Aren’t we friends?”

“I don’t know, yet,” She replied, watching his face for any changes, but there were none, “Maybe I’ll tell… One day,” she hummed.

“I’d like to know,” Itachi nodded his head. He was quite curious about how she created the fire without burning herself. She didn't use any hand signs, which was even more intriguing. Well, he would just have to make sure she considered him a friend if that’s what it took.

“Well, then you’ll just have to prove to me that you're worth my secret, won’t you,” she smiled, knocking her shoulder into his, “When we started the academy… Did you mean what you said? Why you want to be a ninja?”

“Yes," Itachi inclined his head to her with his answer, "I want to stop the fighting; all this fighting is ridiculous. I want to become the best ninja I can be and eliminate war from this world," he remembered that day in school Kaida and her sister had stared at him, they were the only ones he felt no judgment from. For a while, he had wondered if they were even listening, but then Kaida had smiled at him. It was one of the only times he remembers her smiling at him other than today. Every other time she looked at him, she either seemed indifferent or angry. He decided he liked her smile. It was nice.

“Is that why you didn’t hurt Tenma, Katsura, and Hagiri…. That day when they started picking on you… I watched you that day, you know. Thought about saying something,”

“Why didn’t you?” He asked, abruptly turning his dark eyes back on her. She wasn't looking at him now; instead, her gaze was fixed on the part of the sky above them that they could see through the canopy of the treetops.

“Hmm… Izumi did... Besides, I believe you would have disapproved of my way of dealing with it... Izumi's way... Now, that was interesting,” Kaida hummed to herself, taking no offense to Itachi’s direct way of speaking. She liked how direct he was made talking easier. “You know my Father’s a simple man, but he’s smart. The kind of smart you can’t get from books… When Keina and I were little, barley three, he would read us stories, but he would always ask us what they meant... Funny, huh, asking three-year old’s what fairy tales mean. Of course, we had different answers. He told us he expected us to because words were just that... Words. They had no meaning. Accept what you gave them, though that didn't actually mean anything. He said people are like words in a certain way. You can assign meaning to them, doesn't mean it fits. It's better to watch their actions because actions don't lie. No one can lie through actions forever. They'll slip up, and the truth will come through… So, I took to watching people, found my Father’s right. If you watch long enough, you find out who a person truly is,”

“That-”

“Childish? My mother says it's childish that you can’t learn anything about a person from watching them,”

“I wasn’t going to say that…”

“Anyway, I asked again because I wanted to be sure. That day I saw a kid who could have started a fight… No, one would have blamed you, not for what they were saying, but you didn’t… Why? Instead, you were perfectly calm. Even though you could have hurt them before, they could have done a thing to stop you. I’m pretty sure I know. But I’d like to hear your answer,”

“They were angry. They couldn’t let go of their sadness, so they became angry. They don’t understand what their life will intel. I want this world to be different. I want peace,”

“I think that’s wonderful… You know what, Itachi. I am going to be your friend, and I’m going to help you,” Kaida declared, standing up looking down at Itachi, who just blinked up at her.

“Kaida?”

“Yes,” she asked, turning back towards him at the sound of her name.

“What did you learn about me?” he asked curiously as to what she thought. Kaida was interesting. He hadn’t quite figured her out. She constantly surprised him, right when he thought he had her figured out.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she laughed, “Let's head back,"

……………….

Keina and Shisui continued their work in silence after their talk. They worked fast on setting up the new fence for the horses. Around sundown, they were setting the last part of the fence into place when they felt charka presences suddenly show up behind them. They knew immediately that it was Kaida and Itachi letting them know they were there.

“Thanks for leaving us to do all the work, sis,” Keina said sarcastically, turning to see her sister, who looked like she had been through a huge battle. With her wild, messed up hair and torn clothes, Itachi didn’t look much better.

"Your very welcome," came Kaida’s cheeky response as she came to a stop at her sisters’ side.

“Well, looks like you two did a number on each other,” Shisui spoke, looking between the two. “So how about we start training together in our free time?”

“Works for me,” both girls agreed.

“Kaida is very skilled,” Itachi nodded. He enjoyed his spare with his classmate. She was a dedicated ninja and wanted to furtherer her skills. They had also talked for a while after they had finished sparing her thoughts aligned with his own. She wished for peace as much as he did.

“Let’s go get you guys your produce,” Keina said, starting toward their house. 

……………..

Later that night, the twins lay sleeping in their room, each in their own bed on each side of the room. The moon’s light shone brightly against the darkened night sky, standing out against the blackness like a bright jewel, brighter than the surrounding stars, drowning out their light. A warm breeze slipped in through the open window, blowing the curtains in its way. The girl’s younger sisters were sleeping in the next room in their cribs. Their parent’s asleep downstairs in their room. The girls lay sleeping in their bed, twisting in their sleep with their dreams. They both broke the quiet of the night, jerking up in their beds with a gasping, running hands through their hair.

“Are you okay,”

“No,”

They both spoke at the same time staring at each other with wide eyes. Their breaths coming out in heavy pants.

"You first," Kaida said, staring at her sister, who looked just as disturbed as she did.

“I had a nightmare,” Keina answered, looking down at the floor between her and her sister's bed. The house was fine. Nothing was wrong.

“Me too… What happened in yours,” Kaida asked, looking down at her hands.

“I… I was older. I fell then the house started burning… I burned to death,” Keina gasped, remembering the pain in the dream of the flames on her skin.

"Me too... I was older… Someone was in front of me. Then I fell, they were over me, then everything was burning… I don’t understand. Fire doesn’t hurt me… How could it hurt?"

“I don’t know… We haven’t had a dream like this since-” Kaida started.

"Since the night of the invasion, and you know what attacked," Keina finished interrupting her sister, "Is it just me, or are they getting more detailed?"

"All I remember from the last one is pain and burning. I saw more this time," Kaida said, nodding her head.

“Me too,”

“Tell no one,”

“Tell no one,” Keina agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They just got their second memory. Leave a comment and let me know what you guys are thinking. Do you like this story? What do think about their memories? Know who the twins are?


	2. Chapter Two: Fire Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we have jumped ahead a few years. Kaida and Itachi are thirteen now. Some details have changed like I said they might, there is a new character interacting with the world so somethings are bound to change. All of the changes I and my friend are making do have to do with the ultimate plot of the story though.

_ Kaida groaned, rolling to her side. The pain in her abdomen was making it hard to push herself up. She blinked slowly; she opened her eyes head-spinning; she was so dizzy and lightheaded that it was impossible to think.  ‘I’m dreaming again,’  she thought, looking around, light eyes zoning in on the small bundles wrapped in light cloth next to her chest—the small baby sleeping soundlessly, their small chest rising and falling with their breath. Sucking in a shaky breath, Kaida moved her eyes. They were  _ _ laying on a mat in a traditional bedroom surrounded by candles and a sliding panel door to the right. She could hear screaming and orders being barked. 'Don’t I know that voice? ' She did, didn't she? Finally, she managed to push herself up just as a tall, broad shoulder man came stalking backward, sword held in front of him.  _ _ The breath left her lungs as he turned his head enough for her to catch a glips of his face. ‘Is that Itachi?' she thought, looking at the man. That she knew was her husband in this life. He was older, at least ten years older than the Itachi in her life. Her dream self hissed in pain as she struggled to her feet, holding the babies against her chest as her husband turned to her. The man looked charged and tired as if he had been fighting for hours. _

_ "You're going to have to fight... Give me one of them/" he spoke grave as he took one of the babies securing the child to his chest before handing her a weapon.  _

_ "We can't fight them here-" _

_ "I know... W e need to split up..." her husband took a deep breath pushing her hair back, hand stroking the cheek of the baby she held, "Take the secret passageways... Meet me at our sport... I love you," he spoke in a rush pressing a kiss to her forehead before the both turned dissapering form the room down two different secret passageways.  _

_Her dream self struggled to rush through the passageways, sucking in pain-filled breath, stringing to ignore the blood dripping down her thighs. Having to stop every so often to catch her breath. Finally making it to the end of the passageway that led to the wood, she said a small pray thankful she made it out. Holding her baby girl close to her rushed through the woods to the waterfall; she used to sneak out to meet her husband. Her dream self stopped short at the loud sound of a fight stopping to hid behind a tree. Leaning around, she found her husband in combat with this cousin only to see her husband end up being impaled as he was overtaken by the sheer number of men fighting him._

_……….._

The moon’s light shone brightly against the darkened night sky, standing out against the blackness, but tonight the light wasn’t comforting like it usually was as he sat watching it instead. It was ominousness. As if the moon itself held a terrible dark secret, and tonight that secret was sucking the light from the sky around it. A cold breeze slipped through the tree branches blowing his hair slightly from where he sat perched on a thick limb leaning back on the trunk hidden amongst the leaves. Watching out for his teammates sleeping below. Itachi sighed, watching his breath puff out in front of him. Reaching up, he laid a hand to his chest, rubbing at the tightness there. His muscles were sore from the fight. At least the night was quiet. This mission had been hard. They had been ambushed, but they had completed the mission, none the less, and were now on their way back to the village. His attention moved from the sky to his team at the sound of quite moaning and fabric rustling. In the blink of an eye, he was out of the tree and standing in the center of his teammates. Head tilted to the side. His head jerked in the direction of Kaida as she twisted again in her sleep, moaning softly again. _‘What was wrong with her,’_ he worried. He made his way closer to her; their mission was a secret. They couldn't have her making a loud noise in her sleep. In the blink of an eye, he was kneeled by her side moving her mask so he could place a hand over her mouth when she looked like she was getting ready to scream.

“Kaida… Damn it… Kaida,” he hissed, jerking his burned hand back. The moment his hand touched her skin, it had felt like touching fire. His head shot back up as Kaida jerked up to a sitting position, hands flying to clutch at his grey flak jacket. Steel blue-grey meeting red. Itachi's eyes narrowed at the look on her face. She looked terrified, and she was crying. All thoughts about his hand left his mind as worry for his friend filled his head. He made a few shadow clones quickly to keep watch and checked to make sure no one else had woken up. Their team members were elite ninja, but Kaida hadn't been loud to being with. He had barely heard her. 

“Itachi?” she whispered, eyes looking over his face. Itachi brought the hand that wasn’t burned up to her face wiping away her tears. He loosely wrapped his hand around her wrist with the hand that was burned, ignoring the pain. “What happened?”

“You tell me. You looked like you were having a nightmare,”

“I… I… I don’t think I can tell you,” she breathed out, loosening her grip on his flak jacket. Staring at his chest, it’s not that she didn't want to tell him. It was just how he would believe her, she barely believed it, and she was dreaming it. Not only that, she didn't fully understand the dreams. They didn't make sense; she died in a fire, always. 

"Kaida," Itachi started reaching for her hands. He was anxious about his friend, her _'gift'_ with fire as he had started to refer to it. Since he was having trouble making sense of it, he had noticed how she was starting to have trouble controlling the fire. Now, her skin gets unexplainable hot, as hot as fire its self. _‘What’s happing?’_

"Itachi, what happened to your hand… Its burned… This is a third-degree burn," she asked, grabbing his wrist gently bring it up to inspect the damage to his palm and fingers in the moonlight. "Did we get attacked?"

“No, Kaida, it happened when I touched you,” he answered, watching the way her face changed, showing horror at his words. She was scared, horrified.

“What? How?”

“Your skin felt like fire,” he said, watching as she blinked, seeming to pull herself together at least somewhat. She pulled the burn cream her sister made out of her bag and spread it over his wound before wrapping it in bandages.

“You can’t control it anymore,” he stated, keeping his voice low as she tied off the bandages on his hand. He sighed; this was going to be hard to explain. He wanted to protect her, but it'd be hard to hide an injury to his hand. Of course, he could cast a genjutsu to make it look fine, but that wouldn’t work in the village.

“I…” she started looking around.

“What’s wrong, Kaida?” he asked softly. Kaida had been acting differently the past few months, her behavior was downright strange, and it worried him. He had mentioned it to Shisui, who had just told him that he should just ask Kaida what’s going on. Now, he wished he had done just that.

“What’s wrong with you?” She whispered harshly, looking back up at him meeting him with a fierce gaze.

"What?" Itachi asked, taken aback at the change in his friend's demeanor. Itachi tilted his head to the side at the sound of birds. Memories of one of the shadow clones came rushing back.

“W-”

Itachi didn’t let Kaida finish. He set her mask back on her face before placing his own back on. "We're being ambushed, wake the others… My clones have taken out many, but there's still a few on their way here,"

Kaida inclined her head at her captain’s command as he diapered into the trees. She quietly went about waking her team members silently. Each up and ready to fight as soon as she woke them from their dreams. She turned her head as Itachi reappeared, standing between her and Shisui.

“Get ready,” he said, just as four dark figures materialized from the trees.

One of the figures rushed Kaida. She stepped back, steadying her weight as she blocked the kunai they brought down on her with her own. With the figure so close, she could make out more details in the dark. The one she was fighting was a tall male with wide-set eyes and a wide mouth. Kaida shifted her weight again, bring her back leg up, kicking hard to the man's stomach, and flipped backward. Taking a moment, she looked around the field. Her teammates were all fighting. Itachi and Shisui had their opponents, and their other two teammates were paired up fighting the last man. Kaida focused back on her fight. Jumping out of the way of an earth-style attack the man had set on her. the next attack, she let him think he hit her with. While he walked closer to her shadow clone, she was behind him. With a quick blow, the man was on his knees in front of her in the next. She slit his throat with her tanto. Looking around, all the enemy’s attackers were dead. She stood straighter, moving toward Itachi. She stopped at Shisui's shoulder when they all heard a voice.

“Well, well… Good… Good, aren’t you a good Captain,” a man with a burnt orange mask came from the bushes hoping as he went. His mask had odd circular lines and one hole in the middle. “Hee...hee… We meet again,”

Everyone stayed tense, watching the strange man. Kaida turned her head in the direction of her Captain. Every muscle in his body was tense, tenser than anyone else right now. _‘Was this the man?’_

“What a good little team,” laughed the man,

“Don’t” Itachi didn’t get to finish. The man disappeared only to reappear right behind Kaida. He giggled, wrapping his arm around her neck before anyone could do anything. Itachi remembered this man. How could he forget the man that killed his teammate? That strange, powerful ninja pretending to be a buffoon. _‘What was he doing here?’_. He didn’t know the answer to that question. He already had his Sharingan activated. He had gotten better since the last time he fought this man.

“Would you like it if I killed this one? I like this one… Hee… Do you want to die?" he asked, tilting his head down towards the girl in his arms. Kaida, who locked eyes with Itachi's. She could see his red eyes spinning under his mask. Before her eyes, the place her Captain stood with a calculating face was bleeding into the scene of her dream. Everything was red, hot and red. Blood was everywhere all over her dead friends. Kaida grimaced under her mask, sucking in a pain-filled breath. She hurt. Her whole body felt like it was tearing like it was heating.

Itachi felt fear grip his heart like an ice-cold fist reaching into his chest and squeezing at the sight of that man with his arm around Kaida’s throat. He stood ready to move every muscle coiled like a spring. Till her eyes met his. For only a moment did he see recognition in those steel blue-grey eyes before they glossed over, and then it was like a dam burst in her body. His eyes tracked her charka as it moved faster and faster, looking like fast-moving lava. 

“Ow, you burned Tobi,” the man screamed, shoving her. Kaida fell to her hands and knees, but it didn’t stop. Everything was getting hotter, redder. Itachi tilted his head towards Shisui as they had a silent conversation. They couldn’t fight this man right now. Shisui would get Kaida, and he'd make sure the rest of the team got away, but then fire burst from Kaida like one of Shisui fireballs expect larger and hotter.

“Well,” the men said, “Interesting,” then he disappeared the way he had so long ago, into the hole in his mask. Fire filled Kaida’s vision. She vaguely felt hands on her waist, a voice screaming her name. Then the fire was everywhere all around.

"Move," Itachi yelled, turning and grabbing his dumbstruck teammates, pulling them with him away from the fast-moving fire. He landed with the two adult members of his team on a high branch a ways away from the blaze. Red gaze searching for his cousin and his friends' familiar chakra signatures, finding them in the blaze only to see them blink out of existence before him. He searched every in his filled of sight, but he couldn’t find them.

“What… What the hell?”

Itachi didn’t answer the question, still looking for his friends. They couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t have let them die. No, Shisui was getting Kaida. He was right behind him. That man had disappeared. He was nowhere around them. _‘No, he… he hadn’t'_ his body shivered as he looked desperately for his friends, but they were nowhere. Ice filled him again, heart-thumping faster. He had seen their chakra disappear in front of him. He tightened his hands into fists drawing blood from his palms. He felt anger like he had that night so long ago when he first got his Sharingan. He felt useless. He failed two of his closest friends; he hadn’t made sure they were okay. Shisui, who was like an older brother to him, and Kaida... Kaida, who was... She was precious to him, always there when he needed her. She just showed up and knew what he needed; he never had to say. This was his fault, all his fault they died because of him. He wasn’t fast enough to get them all away. “Ugh,” he grunted at the pain in his eyes, taking him to his knees.

"Captain…" His head snapped to the side at the familiar voice of his cousin. He sat there on the tree on his knees for a moment. Taking in the form of his cousin, who had Kaida in his arms unconscious, head against his chest. Their clothes were a little scorched, but they were fine, completely fine. In the next breath, he kneeled in front of his cousin. Relief feeling him, slowing his heart as his hands, reaching out towards the unconscious blue-haired girl in his cousin's arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked, deep voice coming out as a whisper. Red eyes looking down at Kaida, her mask was knocked slightly off, showing part of her tanned face. She looked fine, but something made her pass out. He lifted a hand, placing two fingers against her neck to feel her pulse. It was fine, steady. He repositioned her mask on her face, looking back up to the mask on his cousin's face.

“Itachi,” Shisui said, forgetting Anbu rules about using names on missions as his eye locked with Itachi's. Shock filling his voice when his eyes met his cousins. 

“What happened?” their team members asked.

"Bomb… We probably should talk about it…Later," Shisui said, directing the last part to Itachi standing up. Readjusting Kaida in his arms. Itachi nodded his head at his cousin. He had questions for him, but right now, they needed to get back to the village.

“I’ll take her,” he stated, leaving no room for argument. “Help me get her on my back,”

Shisui nodded, positing Kaida on Itachi’s back. He needs to talk to his little cousin about what happened and about his eyes. Shisui sighed, looking at his baby cousin, who was holding their petite friend carefully on his back. 'I can't believe what happened...' he thought, shaking his head. Hoping Itachi got his point that they needed to lie. He was worried about what would happen to Kaida if they didn't. Shaking his head Shisui leaped after his cousin, their teammates ahead as they head back to the village. It was still dark out, but they had to get back and report a complete mission and the strange encounter.

“You’re sure your okay,” Itachi asked again, keeping his voice low as they leaped through the trees. Itachi let out a small sigh, repositing Kaida on his back. Her warm weight claiming him, Itachi blinked, eyes stinging as his vision returned to normal. Dark eyes flicking over to his cousin; he wondered what happened. Whatever it was, Shisui was lying. If Shisui felt the need to lie, Itachi sighed. He was going to have to come up with an explanation be they got back to the village. 

“Fine… I’m telling you... I don’t really believe what happened. But right now, isn’t the time,” came Shisui's hushed answer.

……………………………………..

Shisui sat in a hard chair on the right side of his teammate’s hospital bed with his back to the window. The sun was setting now, bathing the sky in pastel hues of blue, purple, pink, and orange. They had made it back to the village early in the morning, thanks to the pace they had set. After dropping Kaida off at the hospital's Anbu division, they had gone to the Hokage tower for a debrief. Itachi had stayed after to speak with the Hokage privately, and Shisui had made his way back to the hospital to check on Kaida. She was a close friend of his. He also knew Itachi was probably worried out of his mind. _‘Not that you would know from looking at him. Damn, I wish I had that kind of poker face,’_ he thought. He had sat by her side for hours now, thinking about what had happened. It was like she didn’t know where she was. As soon as he had grabbed her, the fire was all around them. He was expecting pain and to die, right there. He wasn’t expecting the flames to feel like water on his skin. It was strange, and his gut told him it had something to with Kaida. Her charka had been acting strangely. Then there was Itachi and the question about his eyes. Did Itachi know he had awaked his Mangekyo Sharingan? He doubted it, _‘Then when?’_. If it happened on their mission, Shisui looked up as the door opened.

“She still hasn’t woken up,” Itachi stated, moving to take the other chair in the room on the opposite side of the bed from Shisui. Shisui noticed that the bandages were gone from his hand, as was the burn. But the skin there was red and irritated in appearance, that likely meant taking it easy with that hand few a day or two.

“No, they think it’s charka exhaustion,” he answered, trying to reassure his cousin at the sight of his eyes narrowing slightly. To most, Itachi wouldn’t look affected, wouldn’t look like he was worried at all. However, he knew Itachi, knew the little sings to watch for in his facial expression, what little expression he did show.

“What happened?” Itachi asked, dark eyes looking over his friend who lay in the bed. Her long braid was pulled over her shoulder, and the hospital staff had pulled the amour and flank vest off. They were folded up on the stand next to the bed under her mask. The sheet pulled up her shoulders.

“Right to the point with you,” Shisui grinned. He defiantly appreciated that. So, he spent the next few minutes telling Itachi what happened from his point of view. “You’ll have to ask Kaida when she wakes up,”

“I will,” Itachi nodded, “But from what you observed with your Sharingan and I observed with mine. The fire came from her. Officially it went down like a bomb. However, I can’t have Kaida on missions with us till I know she can control whatever is going on,”

“Wait… Itachi, you're benching her. Oh, man, that's going to piss her off,” Shisui said, leaning forward. He looked down at the still unconscious girl in the bed. He’d let Itachi give her that news. That tiny little thing was a firecracker, and he didn’t really like being on the receiving end of her ire. “Well, you get to talk to the Firecracker about that,” that got a smile out of his too serious cousin. “Listen, Itachi, have you notice anything different with your Sharingan,”

“I thought you two were dead… I was angry, sad… I felt pain in my eyes. Why?”

“I think you need to go look in a mirror and active your Sharingan,” Shisui said, tilting his head towards the adjoining bathroom in the room. Itachi just raised an eyebrow at the older boy. However, seeing he was dead serious, he lifted himself from the chair and moved to the bathroom. Shisui followed, standing behind Itachi as he looked in the mirror and activated his Sharingan. But his eyes looked different.

“They’re different,”

“It’s the Mangekyo Sharingan… You must have awakened it when you thought Kaida and I had died… Honestly, I’m flattered you care so much,” Shisui smiled, trying to break the tension. He watched his cousin for a while, face turning serious as he thought about what was going on in their family right now, “We should probably keep this between us,”

“Guys… What?”

They turned their heads at the soft voice of Kaida, who was now sitting up in the hospital bed, looking around the room in confusion.

“Kaida,” Itachi breathed out softly, moving back into the room. Making his way to her bed, "I'm relieved you're okay," he spoke softly, bending slightly to wrap his arms around Kaidas neck. Refeilf filling him at seeing her wake, sitting up in the bed. Itachi sighed, tightness releasing in his chest as she wrapped her arms around him the best she could, muttering that she was fine. Patting her shoulder, he stood back up, pulling his chair closer to her bed, before sitting down. Shisui leaned up against the door frame, watching.

 _‘Yeah, defiantly him thinking we were dead caused the change in his eyes.’_ Shisui thought, just watching from where he stood.

“Do you know what happened,” Itachi asked, finding her eyes with his own.

“Itachi, what happened to your eyes,”

Great, well, he guessed they’d keep it between them and Kaida. Not that he minded, he trusted Kaida. Really he liked the fiery girl. No pun intended. One of his favorite hobbies was watching Itachi interact with his only two female friends. Sometimes he wondered if Itachi realized what was happening with his female friends, where their friendship was going. _‘Maybe I should talk to him about,’_ Shisui thought, _‘But then again, it’ll be fun to watch as they get older… Like my own personal drama,’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me know what you guys think. I'm trying to keep the Naruto characters in character. Hope I'm doing that.


	3. Chapter Three: Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next few chapters will take us through the arc that will cover the Uchiha massacre. Have any of you read Itachi's novel Daylight? It's extremely good and a place I will be pulling from for some information. 
> 
> I don't own anything to do with the Naruto series

"Kaida, can we please talk?" Itachi asked, walking down the cellar stairs of Kaida's home. Her mother had ushered him in. Told him where he could find Kaida with a smile on her face and sent him on his way. He came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase, watching her tense back as she worked on tying bundles of herbs to hang dry. In the blink of an eye, Kaida was in front of him. He didn't stop her when she turned his head with a sharp slap in the next second.

“You benched me…” She growled, clenching her fist in his shirt. “And I don’t even hear it from you. I get a messenger,”

“Do you feel better now?” he asked, voice calm, looking down at her—cheek stinging from her slap. Kaida could hit hard, and he was sure he'd have a bruise on his cheek where she hit him.

“You benched me,”

Itachi took a deep breath, face remaining blank as his eyes held her firey steel blue ones, “Shisui and I lied for you. To everyone... They think what happened was a bomb, but they know it came from you. I certainly couldn't hide that. I had to tell the Hokage you set off a paper bomb to get out of an enemy's hold and that the enemy did something to the bomb... Still, you almost killed your entire team by losing control... The Hokage isn't happy with what he thinks happened, your Anbu... Accidents like that aren't supposed to happen at our level. You’re lucky the Hokage is letting me deal with you,” he explained, feeling like he was explaining something to his brother. Kaida's temper tantrums often reminded him of Sasuke. She was impressively smart, though his brother's intelligence was more on pair with his own age.

“You think I did that on purpose… You fucking-” 

“Kaida..." Itachi's calm voice interrupted her. he fought to keep the small smile off his face, _'She cute when she angry... Her voices too soft to sound intimidating,'_ he thought. thinking Kaida's soft voice and small stature just made her look extremely cute when mad. "You know I’m fair. What’s actually your problem,” he asked, moving closer to his teammate, wondering what the real reason for her ire was. He knew as soon as she calmed, she would agree with him about his decision. _'That's not even the real reason she's angry with me,'_

She took a deep breath pushing more loose strands out of her face moving back to the table she was working at, trying to calm herself, “You say you’re my friend... But we barely spend time together anymore… You've been ignoring me. You only spend time with Shisui and occasionally Izumi. You know they both talk to me. We've all noticed the change in you. You’re more withdrawn... What's wrong? Shisui won't tell me. I know he knows what's bothering you,"

“Kaida… I don’t,”

“There’s all kinds of whispers about your family more than when we were kids, Itachi. I’ve heard whispers from your own family, is that what this is about?” she breathed, turning around pushing loose strands behind her ear.

“What whispers?” he asked harshly, crossing the cellar floor in just a few strides grabbing Kaida’s arm, pulling her closer, keeping his voice low. If she had heard something, she shouldn’t have. It could put her in danger. She was one of his dearest friends. He had to keep her safe, keep everyone safe.

“Itachi-” she stared, shocked at the angry look on his face. _'What's wrong... Something wrong,'_ she thought, head tilted up, eyes searching. The tight grip on her arms didn’t bother her. She was sure she’d never seen him look this way before, and it only served to worry her more.

“Tell me, Kaida?” he demanded, tightening his grip, causing Kaida to hiss in pain at the pressure on her arms and knock his hands away. Itachi took a deep breath staring down at his friend, “I haven’t avoided you on purpose. I see Izumi more than you because she lives in the compound,” he sighed, letting go of his friend running a hand over his face.

“Itachi,” she demanded, the angry edge returning to her voice. She didn't like him trying to lie to her; she knew damn well he had been avoiding her outside all things concerning their Anbu duties.

“Fine, I have been,” he sighed. She always did know when he was lying, walking around the cellar, dropping to sit on the stool in the far side of the cellar, “I’m sorry,” he breathed out. He truly was. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. He hated her being upset with him, hated seeing the disappointment, the hurt on her face. Knowing he was the reason for it being there.

“Where have you been?”

“Why have you been acting strange?” Itachi shot back, fixing his dark gaze on her. At this point, their talk was going nowhere, but they really needed to get this all out in the open. Kaida, though, looked angry at his words. In turn, she just crossed her arms and leaned back against the table, staring him down. “Izumi’s worried. She said you’ve been strange these past few weeks. Forgetful, withdrawn. Said she stopped by your farm a few weeks ago, and you just weren’t yourself. She said you seemed upset," he said, telling her what Izumi had told him when he ran into her on their way home, how she had visited Kaida's farm, which was outside the village near the compound. She had been pretty worried, but he hadn’t done anything. He had his own worries; things with his family and the village were getting worse. Though hindsight, right? Now, his friend was clearly going through something, and he hadn't been there. She was losing control of her powers and had been benched from missions until she could get it under control. He felt like it was his fault; they were friends. Had promised to help each other when the other needed it. He hadn’t been there for her for a while now. She was always there for him. She had come to see him when his teammate had died and forced him to talk to her. Then had forced him to spar with her, till they were both exhausted. He was angry at first, but he had felt a lot better that night. He figured she’d be fine. She was smart and strong, but he was wrong.

“I don’t know how to talk about it,” Kaida sighed, dropping to sit down beside him. She looked at her hands, then back to her friend. Itachi was already watching her. Studying her face, dark eyes trying to figure out what she was thinking, how she was feeling. It was hard to read her when she got like this, closed herself up. He really made her uncomfortable sometimes when he looked at her like that. With that caring, patient look in his eyes. “You’ll think I’m crazy,”

“I already do,” He said, face straight, then cracked a smile before he started laughing, and she joined him. Kaida laughed, laying her head on his shoulder, slapping his arm. He was one of the only people who could make her laugh like that. He amused her a lot, and she loved to tease him. No one would believe that ‘ _Itachi Uchiha’_ could have a sense of humor.

“Cute,” Kaida smiled, wiping her eyes, not moving her head, “But I’m serious... I don’t know,”

“I trust you with my life Kaida, whatever it is, I want to help you. I can’t help unless you tell me, you don’t have to tell me everything. Do you trust me?”

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with you?” she asked, not answering his question. Of course, she trusted him. Trust had nothing to do with her talking to him about what was wrong.

“I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything,” he said, closing his eyes leaning back. He didn’t see the shock play out across her face. She hadn’t expected that. She had expected him to say, ‘ _It's classified and go on,’_ she would have just gone on too.

“Can you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. She was smart enough to figure out he was working some side mission on his own. She just wasn’t sure what it was, but she had a hunch it had something to do with his family and that Shisui was in on it.

“No, but,” He stopped looking down, then back at his friend. Her features were schooled again, and he didn’t like it. He had heard the shock in her voice but hadn't seen it on her face. He preferred it when he could easily watch her emotions play out in her eyes and across her face. He knew the punishment for what he was going to do if it ever got found out. But she still didn’t trust him completely—almost eight years of friendships and almost a year on the same Anbu team. Kaida still didn’t fully trust him. That hurt. She was one of his dearest friends. He trusted her with his life, with his brother’s life, with the team's lives, not that she knew that. He couldn’t help her if she wouldn’t talk to him, and something was destroying his friend from inside her own mind. He’d take whatever consequences came if he could help her. But he also knew that she’d never tell. Not if he didn’t give her a reason too first. He could always trust her. _'I didn’t go to her for help like Shisui because one: she wasn’t an Uchiha, and two: I didn’t want her to be in danger. I didn't want her to know about any of this, but if she had heard something, then her life might be.'_

“Itachi, you don’t have too,”

“I want to tell you… What have you heard?” 

“Over the years or recently?” she asked, crossing her arm leaning back into the wall.

“Both” 

"Many members of your clan buy from us or trade labor for our produce and meat… Some of them don't pay attention to me, well they don't see me… They aren't happy with the village. I haven't been for a long time. I know they were angry when they had to move out here… Though lately, their talk has been a little more violent,"

“Do you know who?”

“I can describe them to you… You know I do trust you, Itachi… If you’re doing this because you think I don’t,”

“I’m doing it because I want you to know how much I trust you," he said, interrupting her holding her gaze with his. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “The unrest between my family and the village is getting bad, Kaida… The village has asked me to report my family's plans to them, and my father has asked me to report on the village to him since I made Anbu chief. The Hokage is hoping to negotiate a peace term,” he said, looking down, closing his eyes. Being a double agent was killing him. He loved his village, and it was killing him to play his father’s spy while he loved his family. It was killing him to report on his family, but he didn’t want war. But, his father was convinced that the village would do something to them if they didn't do something first. His father and the other clan members felt slighted like their clan wasn't receiving enough respect. If his family did act on their plans for a coup d’etat, it would start another war.

“Itachi,” Kaida said gently, taking his hand in hers. It hurt her heart that her friend was in this position. It seemed like an impossible position to be in. Itachi looked at their joined hands. Even now, his hand was much larger than her petite one. Briefly, he let his mind wander. _'What will our hand look like clasped together a few years in the future?'_ Itachi sighed, thumb brushing her hand, eyes turning back up to Kaida. “How can I help?”

“I don’t know…"

"I got into an argument with Yashiro at the clan meeting the other night... Made my father angry too, again... they are so caught up fact that some are wary of the Uchiha clan, they can't see that it's not something we should actively worry about. they are placing themselves into categories, using words as tools... My father got angry when I pointed this out, and Yashiro questioned my loyalty to the clan.

Kaida snorted, gripping Itachi's hand tighter, "Yashiro is your father's retainer, right?"

"Yes," Itachi answered, dark eyes watching the ager play out across her face.

"They have no right to question you. How can they question your love for your family? If they can, they do that, Itachi they don't know you. Your father is an arrogant ass who doesn't know your heart." Kaida spoke, turning to hold Itachi's gaze once again, light eyes burning with intensity. "You are right when you start placing people into categories. You cause problems and not only for yourself... What are we going to do?... Because I'm not letting you deal with this with just Shisui,"

Itachi smiled softly, dark eyes holding her lighter gaze, "Shisui and I think we have a plan to get my father and the elders to negotiate with the Hokage,”

“Itachi, who’s the one making you do this? Was is it all the Hokage’s idea for you to play the spy?” Kaida asked, a thought occurring to her.

“No, Danzo’s... The Hokage wishes to try and bring the Uchiha back around to the village,”

“Itachi, Danzo’s the one that wanted your family moved out here? Yeah, I remember hearing some old men fussing about it on their way back to the compound,”

“Yes, father mentioned it,”

“Danzo is the head of the foundation, Itachi… I’ve heard rumors he doesn’t like Uchiha… Don't tell me you are working for him," Kaida said, scared now at the thought of her friend working for that shady shadow man who ran the darker part of Anbu. Danzo had been the one to approach her about being added to Itachi's team, and he had pulled her from her training one day into a meeting with the Hokage. They had asked her to take a mission trying out for Anbu. 

“Kaida, I had too," Itachi breathed out quite. He was honestly just thankful Danzo kept away from Kaida; the man had no interest in his friend. Didn't see the impulsive girl as worth his time, and for that, Itachi was grateful. He didn't want Kaida anywhere near Danzo. 

"What the hell do you… He threatened you, didn't he?… What, no, that's… He threatened Sasuke…" she said, watching her friend, "Itachi answer me,"

"I don’t know why you second guess yourself," Itachi smiled at her, softly watching her. He knew what was running through her head, the way her mind worked so fast.

"That fucking bastard Itachi you can’t work for him… He is playing an angle,"

"Kaida,"

“Hush... I’m thinking… There was no reason to move your family. It was a slap in the face… Itachi, you can’t trust Danzo… He has been interested in you forever, that can’t be a-”

“No, you are right,” he nodded, thinking through everything that had happened the past few years. Kaida was right. None of it was by accident. “What do you think of Danzo?”

"I think he is a dangerous man, Itachi… I think he thinks what he's doing is good. Of course, we don't know what all of that is, but there is a reason for the saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Some lines should never be crossed… It’s why when he showed interest in me, I backed off, I answered his question wrong, underscored on my exams, my sister did the same... Though it didn't do me good for long... He's the one that approached me about Anbu... Pulled me into a meeting with the Hokage about it..." Kaida spoke quickly, mind racing, "Itachi they gave you, your own team... Had me try out for Anbu... Put me directly on your team-"

“You still made Anbu at 13,” Itachi pointed out, mind racing over the information she had just supplied him. Kaida was no slacker; she was a genius in her own right. A talented shinobi that could beat him when they were sparing. She was one of the best strategists he knew. He enjoyed bouncing ideas off her during missions. Not many people could keep up with his thought process. However, she could. She even gave him a run for it at times, making him keep up with her train of thought. "Why didn't you ever mention this to me? Has he ever spoke to you about anything else?" Itachi asked, worry filling him. He didn't want Danzo anywhere near Kaida. He didn't care if she could take care of herself; she was his responsibility. 

"No... But Danzo… There's something wrong with that man Itachi… I don't know what, but he doesn't have the village's best interest at heart. I don't like that he's got you working for him,"

Itachi just nodded, taking in her words silently keeping his grip on her hand. He had thought about all of this, but he had to find a way to fix things between his family and the village, “And what do you think about our beloved Hokage?”

“I think he truly cares for the village, but I think he’s lost his spine,” Kaida said honestly, soft voice filling with distaste she would only show in front of Itachi. She knew the Hokage loved his village and loved his villages. The Hokage loved the children the most, believing them to be the future, and Kaida agreed with him. She just felt like the man needed a stronger spine.

Itachi’s head snapped around to her at that harsh judgment. "Kaida!”

"No, listen. He won't stand up to Danzo or the elders. He had to know what was happening with your family. The second Hokage made the Military Police Force to keep the Uchiha out of the center of village affairs and to keep them out of Anbu. You and Shisui are the first and only Uchiha in Anbu. I could sight more, you know. The Third could have started anew changed all of it; instead, he chooses to go along with decisions that would make them feel more alienated and not like a valued part of the village. Your family does a lot. Your father was a war hero, but we don't learn about him. The Hokage could have changed this, given your family the recognition it deserves, but they fear your family. So does the Hokage, on some level. At the same time, he loves them as part of this village; that conflict is going to cause problems. He doesn't have the spine to be Hokage anymore,"

"You can't-" Itachi said, letting go of her hand, turning to face her. Her words worried him if anyone ever heard her. She could... What she was saying could get her into trouble. The wrong person could take her words as treason. 

Kaida blinked again at Itachi's outburst. This was the second time this day he had shown her exactly what he was feeling, smiling softly. She reached out a hand, cupping the side of his neck, "I'm saying it to you, Itachi… Only you... That is what I think. However, he is my Hokage, and I will follow his orders," Kaida promised, hand sliding down to pat his shoulder.

“My family stoked the flames of this conflict, too, Kaida. Hate comes from both ends. I’m worried about how this will all end,” He admitted quietly.

“Well, if all of us are working on it… Then hopefully it’ll be a good one,”

"I hope you're right," he sighed. They sat there side by side in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Each thinking over what they had just discussed.

“I’ve been having nightmares,” she sighed, breaking the silence after a while, ignoring the feel of Itachi’s eyes on her.

“What happens in them?”

“I die… Itachi every night for the past few months I’ve been seeing myself burn to death,” she took a deep breath lifting her head to look him in the eyes.

“Kaida,"

“No, let me finish… I… you’re right. I need to tell someone. The only person I trust more than my sister is you,” she said, holding up a hand to stop his words. She didn’t understand her dreams, but the figure in her dreams had warned her more than once about telling people. She could only speak to one person who wasn’t her sisters, but how could she talk to her sisters. Keina was going through her own stuff while trying to learn how to be a medic. Her baby sisters, it wasn't their job to help and protect her. It was her job to help and protect them.

"I'll help you. However I can," Itachi vowed, slipping his hand back into hers. Holding tight to her hand. Shocking Kaida a bit with the conviction in his voice, she hadn't even told him what she thought yet. He really was a good friend, even when she was still a little mad at him. Itachi couldn't get her words out of his head, thinking back to their mission and the fear that had gripped his heart when he had seen flames swallow his friends. He had saved his other teammates from the flames before they could get hurt, but he couldn't get to Kaida and Shisui. The flames had come from her, and for a few minutes, he thought her and his cousin died. The burning in his eyes had driven him to his knees. Then his cousin had appeared in front of him with Kaida unconscious in his arms. They were completely unhurt, with no burns on their skin.

“Itachi I die, but it’s not me, I don’t recognize the places or the people or myself… But I know it's me… The dreams have been getting worse, and my ‘gift’ as you call it is… I can’t control it,”

“You think the dreams mean something?” Itachi asked, bumping her shoulder with his.

“I don’t think you’ll believe me,”

“Try me,”

"I think they're my past lives… I've done some research. Some people claimed to remember things about their past lives," Kaida said, keeping her grip on his hand, turning her body to face her friend, "My family has a history of gifts, Itachi's… It makes no sense; we don't have a kekkei genkai. But I found my great-great-grandmother's journal… She talked about how her sister had a gift, like mine, but she died at five. Her older sister could see glimpses of the future,"

“What else,”

“The book was badly burned; those were the only surviving pages. When mom found out that I found it, she burned it,”

"Kaida, do not talk to anyone else about this, only me or your sister, okay," Itachi ordered, tightening his grip on her hand. He didn't want her telling anyone else. This could hurt her career. It made her sound crazy. He was her friend, her chief, and team captain. He'd help her figure this out and get her gift back under control.

“I won’t…” she nodded.

“We’ll figure it out. I’ll help you get control back. As soon as you do, I’ll let you back on missions,” he promised, tightening his grip on her hand as he spoke. 

“Going to make me spar with you and Shisui till I pass out,” she joked, bumping his shoulder with hers.

“Maybe,” he hummed.

“I’ll take any chance. I can’t wait to knock you on your ass Uchiha,” she stood, letting her hand slip from his before stretching, wondering for a moment how long they had been talking down in the cellar. “Help me finish the herb, yeah,”

“I think you’ll be the one getting knocked down,” Itachi snorted, moving to help Kaida tie herbs. “Kaida, let’s make a deal from this point on. We won’t lie to each other. I’ll tell you everything I can, and you do the same. Deal?”

“Deal,” she smiled, shoving him slightly in the side with her elbow, “How’s the hand,”

“Fine…”

They worked in silence for a while, continuing bundling herbs and tying them before hanging them up to dry. Once they were done, Kaida wrote down how many of each herb bundles they had hung up for her family recorders.

“Well, that’s all of them,”

“I better get home. I’ll see you for training tomorrow at sunrise,” Itachi said, giving Kaida a smile before heading up the stairs to leave her house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys are thinking. I'd love to know what everyone thinks. Like it? Hate it?


	4. Chapter Four: Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or the lore in the series.  
> Is anyone a fan of Dr. Who? The inspiration for Kaida's personality comes a lot from River Song.
> 
> I added some parts from Itachi's novel Midnight.

The sun was just breaking over the tops of the trees in Konoha bathing the sky in shades of orange and red. Kaida enjoyed the view from where she sat preached hidden amongst the leaves of a tall tree watching her two teammates spar. Shisui and Itachi had been helping her for the last three weeks on controlling her _‘gift’_ as Itachi liked to call it. She was hiding her signature, waiting for a good time to surprise them. It was always fun when she managed to shock the two Uchiha. However, it was a lot easier to sneak up on Shisui than Itachi. She got more joy out of seeing the shock play out on Itachi’s face. Kaida watched as the two boys clashed together, bodies colliding once again midair before crashing down onto the ground.

Being the fastest one out of the two of them, Shisui was on his feet first. He took full advantage of his position and maneuvered to kick Itachi, who was still crouching, recovering from the hard-hit his back took from being slammed into the ground. However, Itachi seeing this coming blocked the kick with his arm.

“Fire Style! Great Fireball Technique!” called Shisui, quickly making the hand signs for the jutsu at an almost blinding speed.

Kaida grinned when she heard Shisui call out his ‘Great Fireball Technique!’ watching as an enormous ball of flames shot out of his mouth. The technique was one the Uchiha were proud of, one known only to them. She quickly turned her eyes back on Itachi, who didn’t attempt to move. _‘Really, she thought, Shisui should know something was up the moment Itachi didn’t move.’_ Kaida was right too. The moment the flames touched Itachi, his form burst out into his many crows. In the next second, Itachi was behind Shisui only for Shisui to use a substitution jutsu as well. She watched their match go on like this for a few more minutes before finding an opening. Shisui was holding Itachi’s attention, and Itachi had moved right under her. In a flash, she dropped down, landing on Itachi’s back, sending Itachi sprawling to his stomach. Kaida quickly pinned him there, placing a kunai at his throat.

“Hello, sweetie,” Kaida laughed into his ear, pressing the flat part of the blade to Itachi’s neck. In the next second, Shisui called out his fireball technique once again, shooting towards Kaida and Itachi. Kaida flashed a wicked grin letting her chakra swirl around her as her fire swirled around her and Itachi protectively. She was absorbing the fire from Shisui’s attack before she pushed it outward in Shisui’s direction. Shisui let a noise of surprise out before diving out of the way of the flames.

“You’re late,” Itachi grunted from his place on the ground. Kaida’s bony knees were digging uncomfortably into his upper back. He had a small smile on his face at Kaida’s show of control over her ‘ _gift.’_ She had come a long way in the past few weeks. “Get off,”

“I’m good, thanks,” Kaida laughed, shooting Shisui a wicked grin. Shisui just belted out a deep laugh setting down to take a breather. He sure was glad Itachi talked to their friend. He had missed seeing this side of her. Itachi grunted at her reply and heaved her off him, throwing her up in the air, earning a yelp of surprise from Kaida at being tossed in the air like a rag doll. _'Maybe I threw her a little too hard,'_ he thought for a minute before he saw her twist her body midair and slid along the ground in a crouch.

“Oh, Damn Itachi,” Shisui laughed, looking at his cousin’s face, which had a red tint to his cheeks. ‘ _Oh, Kaida, you little devil child.’_ He thought, standing up; not many people could get a reaction like that out of Itachi. He was pretty sure only Kaida and Izumi could manage it. Though Kaida might be better at it, considering she enjoyed provoking and embracing him. Reaching over, he clapped the small girl on the shoulder, “I’ve missed you, Firecracker,”

“You’re late,” Itachi repeated, staring Kaida down. It wasn’t like her to be late, and today she shows up almost two hours late. It made him worry, but she was acting like her usual self. Not like the depressed withdrawn person, she had been acting like for the past couple of months.

“Nosey aren’t we,” Kaida hummed, tilting her head to the side as she shifted her weight to one leg, placing a hand on her hip. Shisui just stood watching their interaction. _‘Now, this was more like,’_ he thought. Kaida irritating Itachi just to get a rise out of him, and Itachi actually going along with her for whatever his reasons were. The girl liked her games, and his cousin often indulged her. Though that usually ended up with them sounding like an old married couple as they argued.

“Kaida,” Itachi ground out a warning tone in his voice.

“I... ta... chi,” Kaida stretched out his name with a wide grin on her face. She enjoyed seeing what emotions she could get to play out in those dark eyes of his. _‘Bonus point when it showed on his face,’_ she giggled in her head. Kaida rolled her eyes when Itachi’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He really made it too easy. Sighing, she shifted her weight back to both feet, “Kin had a nightmare. Keina had the night shift last night, and mom and dad are out of town for some business. It took me a while to get her to calm down. I’m not as late as you think, Mr. Genius. I’ve been watching you from the trees for about an hour,”

"Is she okay?" He asked

"Fine," she hummed, before flicking her hand launching kunai’s covered in fire at Itachi. Using that distraction, she took off into the trees.

“You two spar for a minute. I’m going to take a break,” Shisui waved, moving to sit under a tree to watch them. Shisui grinned, watching as Kaida suddenly appeared behind Itachi, landing a kick to his lower back. Itachi recovered quickly, flipping around, landing on his feet.

“Are we getting serious,” Kaida teased, meeting the Sharingan with her own eyes. Shisui shook his head; that girl was crazy. Most people avoided the Sharingan out of fear. Kaida would look them directly in the eyes, no fear at all. However, that could speak to her trust in them.

 _‘Also speaks to her skill,’_ Shisui thought. _‘That Itachi feels like he needs to use the Sharingan to keep up with her. Girls fast,’_. He enjoyed sparing with the younger girl. She really was fast and smart. She liked to use her speed to test out an opponent. If he weren’t for his body flicker jutsu, she would have won more spars against him. Shisui watched as they continued, Itachi defending while Kaida attacked. Itachi matched every blow; neither had landed a hit on the other in the past few minutes of the spare. They came together again in a clash of steel only to separate just as quickly. Shisui popped up into a crouch as Itachi’s eyes spun into his Mangekyō Sharingan. _'What is he planning?’_

"Going to use those eyes," Kaida raised an eyebrow meeting her teammate’s eyes. She was curious about them; he hadn't shown her what they could do, just explained in theory. He and Shisui had been training together, working on their Sharingan’s. In the next breath, Kaida found herself standing in a red and black world. She looked around, seeing a strange wooden structure behind her, confused, wondering if Itachi had cast a genjutsu on her.

“Kai,” she said, focusing on disrupting her charka to dispel the genjutsu. She took a step back when Itachi suddenly materialized right in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at his appearance. He looked like a shadow. Glancing down at herself, she noticed she looked the same, “Itachi, what is this,”

“This is the Tsukuyomi. Space, time, and substance are all controlled by me. We’ll be in here for seventy-two hours, while only a second pass in the real world,”

“Well, isn’t that handy,” She nodded her head. She could see many things he could use this for. No doubt, he’d already thought of them himself, “You cast this with your new Sharingan?”

“The Mangekyō Sharingan. Yes, one of them,” he answered, watching as she moved around the word his left eye allowed him to create. He was glad his friend wasn’t scared of his eyes, but he was also worried about how she met his eyes so easily. He could have cast any kind of terrible genjutsu on her; she had seen him do it, and yet she kept meeting his Sharingan.

“Which one?” she asked curiously, wondering now what the advanced form of his Sharingan could do.

Itachi tried to hide snort at his friend’s curiosity, “The left one,”

"And you can change the way this world looks?" she asked, shooting him a look at hearing him snort. "What's the wood thing,"

"I could torture some there if I wanted to... Yes, Kaida, I can change this world," he smiled as the scene around them changed to a beautiful waterfall they had seen on their one of their mission. Itachi's smiled widened at Kaida's awed look. He remembered how much she had like this waterfall; she had gone on and on about how pretty it was. It was pretty, surrounded by vegetation and white stone. The moonlight shining on the water, it had indeed been a beautiful scene. 

“What can the other one do?” she asked, spinning to face him, causing her braid to lift up with her as she spun, grasping a fist full of his shirt as she looked up at him.

“It’s called Amaterasu. They are inextinguishable black flames... There's more, these eyes of mine can do, but I need to work on them,” he answered, looking down at the excited look on her face. Her pure joy and excitement bring a wide smile to his lips.

“Do it,” she demanded, tugging on him.

“Are you crazy? I just said they are inextinguishable,” he responded, watching her face fall in disappointment. He shook his head, “Besides, it takes a lot of my chakra. I’m still working on mastering the Mangekyō. I can't use it as much as my Sharingan,”

"Why not?"

"The Mangekyō Sharingan is powerful, but that power comes at a price. The more you use the Mangekyō Sharingan, the faster those power it grants cause permanent damage to your eyes,"

"You'll go blind..." she guessed, holding his gaze. "So as long as you use it sparingly, you should be able to save your eyes. Is there a fix? Some way to save your eyes?" she asked, watching her friend. She didn't like the idea of this new Sharingan causing him to go blind simply by using it. "Does it hurt now?"

"I'm looking into it. You'll know as soon as I do. I promise," Itachi nodded, reaching up to cover her hands with his before she pulled away completely.

"Good... You didn't answer my last question, Itachi,"

"Hmm, It is... Using them feels like being underwater... Using Amaterasu makes my eye bleed," he answered, watching Kaida take in the information.

"Okay... Then you shouldn't use it unless you have to. You Sharingan is amazing, the genjutsu you can cast... I doubt we'll need you to use these new eyes a lot..." she nodded, mostly talking to herself. Trying to think of ways to keep Itachi from damaging his eyes, "You said they can do more,"

Itachi smiled, knowing she wouldn't be distracted long, "Yes, they can... I can cast advanced genjutsu with these eyes. I can create a large humanoid avatar made of my own chakra... t's called Susanoo. I need to learn how to do this, though,"

"You'll have to practice with those eyes, do that... Itachi, Why did you use those eyes if they can hurt you?"

"I wanted you to understand them," he answered, gesturing around them. "Me explaining it to you is different than me showing you them,"

“Fine... I'll accept that answer... I don't want you using a lot, but I want to see flames you can make one day, at least once,” She sighed, crossing her arms, "And I'm helping you develop your Susanoo,"

“You sound like a five-year-old. We’re on the same Anbu squad,” He bent his head, grinning at her antics. She was back to being herself, that was for sure.

“Are we going to talk about things with your clan today?” she asked. After their talk in her cellar, they had trained. However, they hadn’t spoken again about what Itachi had told her.

“Yeah, as soon as we are done training. We’ll talk with Shisui,”

Kaida looked around again as the world faded from the red sky to the blue sky above her. She turned her head back to where Itachi was standing, but he wasn’t there. Before she could move to defend herself, she felt warm arms wrap around her neck, cutting off her air, and pulling her back into a chest. She then felt the cold press of metal against her back.

“You stopped paying attention. Kaida,” Itachi reprimanded her before letting her go. He had figured the world his eyes could create would throw her off enough to win this round. He had no doubt the trick wouldn’t work out again for him.

“That was a dirty trick... Showing me something neat like that. It won’t work again,” she warned, moving to take a break under the same tree at Shisui. Itachi smiled to himself before joining his friends for a short break.

They spent the rest of their day sparing, taking turns paring up against each other. One round would see Itachi and Shisui against Kaida, only for the next to see Itachi and Kaida against Shisui, then the next leaving Itachi on his own. They took a few minutes in-between each round to catch their breaths. It was well into the late afternoon when Itachi called for them to stop for the day.

“What’s up?” Shisui asked, dropping down from the tree he was in to land beside Itachi at the same time as Kaida.

“We need to discuss some things,” Itachi sighed, wondering how Shisui was going to take this. He hasn't yet mentioned that he told Kaida about what they had been working on for the past few years with their family. “Let’s go to the cliff,” he finished watching as Shisui quickly hid the shock on his face. Itachi let out another sigh. No doubt he’d be hearing about this later.

“A cliff,” Kaida asked, looking between her two friends.

“Yeah… It's where we have our talks. We’re the only ones that know about it,” Shisui answered, giving Itachi a calculating look. Wondering just what Itachi had spent that afternoon talking to Kaida about now. He had the feeling the younger boy had omitted quite a bit the last time they talked.

It didn’t take the trio long to get to the cliff. Once there, each took a seat, taking time to relax from their spar and their run.

“So, how much do you know, Kaida?” Shisui asked, breaking the silence after a couple of minutes. His dark eyes watching his two friends, wondering if the two genius even paid attention to how close they sat to each other or the way they moved around each other. They were so aware of each other it was ridiculous. 

Leaning back on her hands, Kaida looked over to Itachi, who sat between her and Shisui. At the slight incline of his head, she answered, “Itachi told me everything about your family but not about your exact plan,” 

“Really?” Shisui asked, raising an eyebrow at his cousin.

Kaida snorted, light eyes narrowing at Shisui, "You got a problem with that?"

"Kaida... Shisui knows how much I trust you," Itachi spoke softly, deep voice soothing, catching the irritation in Kaida's voice. He turned his dark eyes on his cousin, wondering what was up with Shisui. "Shisui-"

"I trust you, Kaida. I didn't mean anything by it," Shisui sighed, looking up at the sky. "Look before we get into this, there's something I want to say," Shisui started, his gaze so sharp, it was painful. "The clan suspects you, Itachi, and they aren't thrilled with how much time you spend with Kaida... Mikoto doesn't care, but-,"

"You don't have to tell me that. I know." Itachi said calmly, dark eyes assessing his cousin. 

"A ninja of the clan's been ordered to monitor you," Shisui spoke gravely, watching the reaction of the two people in front of him. 

"What?" Itachi and Kaida asked at the same time. Kaida's voice coming out angrier than Itachi's, while Itachi truly sounded shocked. The clan was watching Itachi, and Shisui was saying that the one accepting the role was a ninja of the same clan. _'There's only one person in the clan able to hand down orders to his brethren... My father'_ Itachi thought, dark eyes glaring at the ground.

"Itachi... Your father," Kaida growled, hand wrapping around his bicep. Anger filling her at the thought of Fugaku ordering the monitoring of his own son. His son, who was the most loyal person she knew.

"I can't believe he would-" 

"It's true, Itachi. I witnessed it myself, so there's no doubt about it." Shisui sighed, interrupting Itachi's deep soft-spoken pain-filled voice.

"What are you getting at Shisui?" Kaida asked, light eyes narrowing at Shisui. She didn't like the tone he was using. _'Why does he know that Itachi is being monitored?'_

"I mean the one given the task of watching Itachi is me," Shisui spoke the words he had been avoiding speaking for months, words that had been haunting him.

Shisu's words pierced Itachi's heart. His father had ordered Shisui to watch him? His father didn't trust him. His father believed him to be a danger to the clan. That's the only reason he would have someone monitoring him.

Shisui caught Kaida's angry look sighing, and he said, "They're using the fact that I'm close to both of you. Three senior officials from the military police force came to order me to monitor you, Itachi... They want me reporting on everything, including your relationships. Yashiro, Inabi, Tekka. They suspect you. And you and Yashiro did have some fierce words at the meeting." 

Kaida sighed, leaning into Itachi. Hand, tightening on him. Shisui was covertly telling Itachi that it wasn't his father. that it was others. she sighed. She could feel Itachi's relief at the fact that Fufaku wasn't the one who had ordered the monitoring. But that didn't mean that Fugaku didn't give the order to those three. Even if Yashiro and the other were the ones who had approached Shisui, Itachi closed his eyes, hand clasping over Kaidas smaller one. He sighed, leaning his head against her on his shoulder. Breathing deeply to calm his nerves. He didn't know exactly where that order had originated. A black doubt rose up in his heart, the polar opposite of the love he had felt at his father's kind word a few months earlier. _'Exactly which one is my real father?'_

Shisui watched the two, dark eyes watching how easily Kaida claimed Itachi, how easily Itachi calmed her. The way they just leaned to each other for comfort, "I probably don't need to say this, but I'll make some things up and report back to them... So you can relax."

Itachi sighed as both he and Kaida straightened up. His dark eyes connecting with his cousin; he didn't doubt Shisui's loyalty. Itachi closed his eyes, nodding once.

"But be careful. There's no doubt that the radicals in the clan have their eyes on you."

"I was ready for that." Itachi nodded, dark eyes turning to Kaida, “Kaida thinks Danzo is up to something,” Itachi said, ignoring the look Shisui was giving him at the moment. He was starting to get annoyed with Shisui’s looks. He was just friends with Kaida, the same as he was just friends with Izumi.

“Well, I agree. That man doesn’t have any good intentions with you, Itachi,”

“Itachi, said you, and he had a plan to fix everything, Shisui?” Kaida asked, leaning forward on her knees.

“I’m going to use Kotoamatsukami. It’s a powerful genjutsu that can manipulate thoughts perfectly so that no one would have the slightest idea that they were being controlled,” Shisui answered, watching Kaida take in what he said.

“So, your Mangekyō Sharingan does something different…. Interesting,” Kaida hummed to herself, thinking over everything she and Itachi had talked about and what Shisui had just told her. “You can only cast this on one person, yes?”

“Yes,” Itachi answered, turning his dark eyes on Kaida, “He will cast it on my father,”

“It’s a good plan… What if someone tries to stop you?”

“Why would-” Shisui starts only for Kaida to interrupt him.

“I’ve done said I don’t trust Danzo. Have you told this plan to the Hokage,” She asked, looking between the two boys’, “Because if you have. Danzo knows,”

“Yes,”

“That was stupid, Itachi, I don’t… There’s something wrong with that man… I don’t like that you're working for him secretly… You know there is something wrong with him,”

Shisui stayed silent, watching the exchange between the two of them. He wasn’t sure at first what to think about Itachi telling Kaida about their family, but he did like that she was trying to help pull Itachi out of the darkness that Danzo had put him into. He agreed with her that there was something wrong with that man, and while he was sure, Itachi knew that. He was ignoring it in favor of trying to achieve peace between their village and their clan. Hearing her sit here and argue back and forth with Itachi made him feel bad like he could have done more for his younger cousin in the past few years. Instead of just helping him along this path.

“I don't-”

“Don't tell me that you don’t have a choice, Itachi. You always have a choice. However, I’ll respect the choice you made and help you because you're my friends, but I don’t agree with the way you have gone about this,” She stated, locking eyes with each of them. Itachi sighed, nodding his head at his friend. “You need to be careful, Shisui,”

“Are we a little paranoid Firecracker,” Shisui joked, trying to break some of the tension between them. Not many people would sit and berate Itachi like Kaida was currently doing. _'Hell, I can count one hand the people I've seen speak to Itachi like this,'_

“A little paranoia never hurt anyone. Helps you live longer,” She replied seriously.

“We should head back,” Itachi spoke softly, looking up at the sky. The sun was starting to dip low on the horizon. They stood stretching from sitting for a while. Itachi grabbed Kaida’s arm to stop her for a minute, letting Shisui get ahead of them. Kaida turned to him with a raised eyebrow, “Thank you...”

“What are friends for?” Kaida asked softly, popping up on her toes to throw her arms around Itachi's neck, pulling him into a hug.

Shisui turned, wondering what was keeping Kaida and Itachi, only to find them still standing on the cliffside. Kaida's arms wrapped around Itachi's neck, her head leaned on his shoulder, and Itachi's wrapped around her waist, his face turned in towards her neck. Shisui grinned to himself at the sight in front of him, from here. He couldn't hear what they were whispering to each other, but he was sure it was something sweet. 'A _nd they think they're just friends,'_ he snicked, slipping his camera out of his bag to snap a quick photo while the two skilled ninjas were distracted. 

Pulling apart, Itachi and Kaida joined Shisui. It didn’t take them long to reach the Uchiha trying grounds once again. Itachi dropped from the trees down onto the ground, signaling for his friends to do the same.

“What is it?” Shisui asked, dropping down beside Itachi as Kaida dropped down on the other side of him.

“Someone is on their way here,” Itachi replied, turning his back to them just as a small blonde headed figure came barreling through the brushes with a calmer dark head boy behind him.

“Naruto… Wait up. Izumi told us not to run,”

“Kaida,” Naruto yelled, slamming into the blue-haired girl a step behind Itachi. Kaida stepped back with force the Naruto slammed into her.

“Hello, Naruto,” Kaida laughed, wrapping her arms around the small boy. She heard Shisui laughing off to her side and Itachi greeting Sasuke and Izumi. Paying them no mind, she focused on the small blonde kid currently crushing her waist, “How are you, Naruto?”

“Great, me and Sasuke teme just got to start at the academy. OH, and your sister Kin there, she doesn't like Sasuke,” Naruto laughed, pointing over at his dark-haired friend.

“Naruto, that’s not very nice,” Itachi chided him.

“Kin is rude and mean,” Sasuke said, looking up at his brother.

“Oh, my sister means well. You just have to get used to her, that's all,” Kaida laughed, watching the boys. It was a wonder how they managed to be friends with all the fighting they did.

“OH, Kaida, guess what!” Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and down.

“What?” Kaida asked, leaning forward towards Naruto, indulging the boy.

“Izumi said she would take Sasuke and me to the festival in town next week,” he whooped, jumping up and down, turning a circle.

“Nii-san, will you come with us,” Sasuke asked, looking up at his brother.

“Sasuke-”

“Sure, he will, Sasuke… We don’t have a mission, and I’m taking my sisters. Why don’t we make a day out for us all?” Kaida asked the boys and Izumi before turning her eyes up to Itachi. Stell blue-gray meeting Itachi's dark eyes. Kaida grinned up at him, watching the irritation run through his dark eyes. She giggled, pulling her lip between her teeth grinning up at him.

Itachi stared down at the shorter girl standing beside him, holding her eyes with his. He had wanted them to train that day, not spend the day wasted at a festival. Turning his dark eyes from hers to Naruto’s, to Izumi’s, then to his brother’s. Before sliding his eyes back to Kaida's, dark eyes softening at the look, she was giving him.

“Well, now, how can you say no, Itachi?” Shisui asked, throwing his arm around Itachi's neck. Oh, he was going to get Kaida when he wanted things from Itachi. That girl might just be better than Sasuke and get the stubborn boy to do something he didn’t want to do. However, that was one dirty underhand trick putting him on the spot like that. He knew for a fact Kaida had no intention of going to that festival until just a few minutes ago.

“I think it sounds like a wonderful idea Itachi-Kun,” Izumi said, clasping her hands in front of her. She would get to spend some time hopefully alone with Itachi if Kaida brought her sisters.

“Fine,” Itachi finally agreed.

“Nee-san,” they all turned their heads at the sound of a high-pitched voice to see a small girl about Naruto height with dark pink hair tied up in a high ponytail and tan skin the same shade as Kaida’s.

“Kin, what are you doing out here?” Kaida asked, moving towards her sister.

“Keina needs to leave for work soon... Are you done training?” Kin asked, moving to stand in front of her sister.

“Yeah,” Kaida nodded, moving her long light blue braid hair back over her shoulder, turning to her friends, “See you later,” she called before taking off towards their farm with her sister.


	5. Chapter Five: Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or lore in the series.  
> I want to thank my friend who helps me write these chapters. Thank you!

“I don’t like that one,”

“Seriously, Kanon comes on, just pick something,” Keina sighed, hanging the last cute linen dress her sister had back up. They had been up here for an hour and thirty minutes going through Kanon’s closet. Kuma and Kin were already dried from their baths and dressed. Both girls were now downstairs with Kaida, who was putting their hair up for the festival and was probably done by now. They were going to be late, thanks to their very picky sister.

“All my friends from school are wearing their kimonos,” the eight-year-old pouted, stomping her small foot, looking up at her sister. She was still wrapped in her bathrobe. Long dark pink curls were hanging down her back. _‘Man, she looks so much like our mom,’_ Keina thought, laughing in her head. All her younger sisters looked like their mother with their dark pink curly hair and gray eyes, but Kanon had many more of her mannerisms than the other two.

“Kanon... We can’t afford a kimono. We have had this conversion,” Keina said, patiently sitting down on her little sister’s bed. She knew it was hard when your friends could afford more beautiful things than you, but most of the money they made went back into the farm. They really couldn’t afford such a beautiful dress made out of such expensive material. Only for Kanon to wear once or twice at the rate she was growing.

“But you and Kaida make money,”

“Yeah, and it goes straight back to the farm or into our equipment for missions,” Keina sighed, pushing her sister’s dark pink curls behind her ear, “Look, how about this, you wear one of your very nice linen dresses we bought you last night. And maybe, for your next birthday, we’ll get you a kimono,”

“What if my friends make fun of me?”

“Well then, sweetie, they aren’t your friends, but if they do, why don’t you just tell Kin. Hmm, wouldn’t that be funny?” Keina asked, knowing Kin would give those bullies a verbal lashing. Kin was the more assertive of the triplets and the only one who ended up going to the ninja academy. Kuma and Kanon wanted nothing to do with their sisters’ ninja lifestyle, much to their parent’s relief, and instead went to the village's civilian school.

“Yeah, it would... Kin’s funny when she’s mean,” Kanon laughed, “Okay, Keina... I’ll wear a green one,”

“Thank god,” Keina whispered low to herself as she got up, knowing her sister wouldn’t be able to hear it. She grabbed the dress her sister requested and handed it to the small girl, “Come downstairs when you are done. Either Kaida or I can fix your hair,” she finished before leaving her sister to change in her room. Keina made her way downstairs only to hear Kaida getting fussed at by their little sister Kuma. She walked into their dining room to see Kaida kneeling at the table with a bored look on her face, Kin right beside her, who looked amused, and Kuma across the table pointing her little finger at Kaida.

“You cannot wear your normal ninja clothes for this festival. It’s just not appropriate. Look at how we are all dressed,” Kuma huffed, throwing her little hand up. Kuma was dressed in a purple linen dress with pink flowers on it that fell to her knees. She turned her attention on Keina as Keina fully interred the room, “Nee-san, help me! Tell Nee-san she just cannot wear her ninja clothes. She needs to dress like you... She cannot wear her ninja clothes! It is not appropriate,” Kuma huffed again, pointing her finger at Keina, wanting to make her point that Keina was better dressed. Keina was also in a knee-length green linen dress with white vines on it.

“Well, Kaida, how long has this been going on?” Keina snickered under her breath at the irritated look on Kaida’s face. She knew her sister wasn’t one to like dresses. The closest she came to wearing a dress was the linen kimono style wrap she wore as part of her ninja outfit over shorts and her mesh t-shirt. Kin was a lot like Kaida in that aspect, but the younger girl enjoyed dressing up for the festival. Unlike her workaholic sister, who had been training up until an hour until it was time for the festival. Kin’s dress was a dark blue with light blue cranes on it.

“An hour...I don’t see why-”

“I just thought of another reason... What if,”

“Fine, I’ll go put on a dress like yours. Will that make you stop,”

“Yes... Make sure to leave your hair down. Keina's hair is up so that people don’t get you guys to confused tonight,” Kuma order her sister, who, in turn, just rolled her eyes. Like that would help. She and Keina could tattoo their names on their foreheads, and dumbass would still get them confused, but her sister could think what she liked. Kaida huffed, heaving herself up off the floor, heading up the stairs to the room she shared with Keina. She passed Kanon on the way.

“Nee-san?”

“Apparently, my attire isn’t appropriate,” Kaida rolled her eyes, knocked her door open, and moved to the closest, grabbing the first dress she touched. A black linen dress that her mother made for her, with red flowers. She changed quickly and unbraided her hair before heading downstairs.

“Does this meet your standards, Kuma?” Kaida asked, re-entering the same room that all her sister gathered in. Keina was bruising up Kanon’s long hair into a bun fixed with some fancy pins they had.

“Yes,” Kuma nodded her little head.

“Wonderful, Let’s leave... I bet Itachi and Shisui are already there,” Kaida said, ushering her sister so they could all get their shoes on.

“Do I have to be nice to Sasuke?” Kin asked, looking over her shoulder at her sister as they left the farm. Thanks to the warm June air, no one need a jacket for the night.

“Yes, you do... Naruto is coming. You like Naruto,” Keina said to her sister. She knew her sister had issues with the younger hire to the Uchiha clan. But surely the two of them could get along for one night. “Kuma,”

“I’ll make sure Kin’s nice,” the small girl answered.

It didn’t take long for the sisters to get to the festival. They walked around, enjoying the bright lantern lights and looking over all the different vendors, even stopping to play a few games. Keina won her three younger sisters, some stuffed animals, in a ring toss game. They each got to pick out their own stuffed animal. Kuma picked out a horse, Kin picking out a bear, and Kanon picking out a bunny.

“Keina long time on see,”

Keina and Kaida turned their heads to see Shisui making his way toward them with Naruto. A few paces behind Itachi walked with Sasuke on his shoulders, and Izumi, who was wearing a beautiful kimono, was hanging on to his arm chatting. Kaida smiled at seeing the small on Itachi's face as he listened to his little brother chat with Izumi. Brushing her hair behind her ear, Kaida looked down, hoping the heat she could feel on her cheeks wasn't showing. Itachi looked handsome in his festival wear.

“You two look wonderful,” Shisui commented, giving both Keina and Kaida a smile, earning a laugh out of the twins. Shisui's smile turned into a smirk at catching the small blush on Kaida's face. Knowing where her line of sight led too. _'Seriously,'_ he thought, shaking his head.

“Hey, don’t hit on my sisters, you perv,” Kin yelled, kicking Shisui in the shin, earning a yelp from the older boy.

“Ow... Hey, what the hell. I was telling them they look nice,” he exclaimed, looking down at the small girl, “What’s up, Kin?”

“So, they don’t look nice all the time?”

“Kin is our little protector,” Keina laughed, bending down to wrap an arm around her sister, who just shrugged out of her grasp.

“Hey, Naruto... Let’s go play some game,” she exclaimed, grabbing Naruto by the arm. Turning to her older sisters, she said, “Is that okay,”

“Sure, Kin, just stay where we can see you and take your sisters... Might want to see if Sasuke wants to join,” Kaida nodded, pointing over to a row of stands that the kids could go play at. She, Keina, and Shisui could watch them from the bench. It looked like Itachi would probably be dragged off by Izumi to go see the festival.

“Yeah, Yeah,” Kin nodded. The twins laughed along with Shisui watching as Naruto rushed off with Kin, Kanon, and Kuma back to get Sasuke so they could play at the booths set up for kids. Shisui, Keina, and Kaida made their way over to sit down on the benches so they could watch the kids.

“Is Izumi and Itachi going to come hang out with us?” Keina asked, waving to Itachi. Letting out a small laugh, watching as Izumi pulled Itachi over to a dango stand down away from them. Keina shook her head. She hadn't missed the dirty look Izumi had shot Kaida when Itachi's eyes had landed on her sister.

“I’m pretty sure Izumi's determined to make this into a date,” Shisui sighed, leaning back against the bench. Not to mention that Izumi was also determined to not let Itachi around Kaida tonight. He wasn't the only one that had noticed the way Itachi had started to look at the blue-haired girl. Izumi had noticed, and she didn't like it very much though he honestly didn't think she understood what those looks of Itachi's meant because she was still determined that she and Itachi would be dating soon.

“Itachi will end up offending her when someone asks if she’s his girlfriend,” Kaida commented, snorting as she watched Itachi smile kindly at Izumi, letting her pull him around as she chatted on. Kaida sighed; she like Izumi she did, but lately, Izumi acted like a jealous girlfriend whenever she was around Itachi. It was an act Kaida found annoying.

“True,” Shisui sighed, then he would have to deal with Izumi crying later. Shisui sighed, looking out over the festival, watching the kids as they played at a booth. He thought back to the talk he had with Itachi and Kaida a few days ago. Itachi had been doing an excellent job of avoiding him outside of their Anbu duties and training. Even though Kaida had returned to Anbu's duties, he hasn’t had time to talk to her either. “Hey, Kaida, when you and Itachi talked… Did he really tell you everything?”

Kaida turned to lock eyes with the older boy. Her mind raced to wonder where his line of questioning was going. She knew how loyal Shisui was to Itachi, but he sure did ask a lot of questions. It made her wonder if there was another reason behind his questioning, but if Itachi trusted him. “I don’t know if it was everything, but we talked for a long time. He told me a lot. He told me about Yashiro what happened when he told your clan his opinion... Itachi told me a lot about what is going on, Shisui. Like I said, I don't know if it was everything, but he told me he’d never lie to me again,” she answered, tucking a strand of blue hair behind her ear.

“That’s not like him… How did you manage that?” he asked, holding Kaida’s gaze.

“What are you talking about?” Keina asked, interrupting their strange conversion.

“I’ll talk to you about it later,” Kaida said, turning attention back to Shisui, “I don’t know... He was upset I didn’t talk to him about what was bothering me,”

Shisui nodded. That made sense. Itachi had noticed that Kaida was acting wired and had mentioned it to him. He had told Itachi to ask their friend what was wrong, but he hadn’t for weekends until that mission that Kaida lost control of her ‘gift’ and Itachi got his Mangekyō Sharingan. He knew Itachi cared about Kaida, but he didn’t think it was enough to tell her family secrets. Serious family secrets, hell, he was pretty sure Itachi had told her secrets about their dojutsu that the girl wasn't supposed to know. So, apparently, he was wrong, and Itachi did tell her family secrets, important ones. Ones that weren't allowed to be shared with outside members. Kaida wasn't an Uchiha. _'What was he thinking telling her those things?_ ' Then again, Itachi's feeling for Kaida had to be intense. She was a reason he had activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. He was willing to bet Itachi cared more for Kaida than he was ready to admit right now. It made him wonder where their relationship would go in the future; he honestly couldn’t tell.

“Shisui, Kaida… Help,”

They turned their heads back to see Sasuke running towards them fast as he could for his young age; when he got close, he jumped, landing behind Shisui on the stone wall.

“What’s the wrong, Sasuke?” Kaida asked, turning her head up, look at the boy.

“Your sister is trying to kill me,” he exclaimed, seriously locking his eyes with Kaida. Kaida almost laughed at how deadly serious the boy was, reminding her of his older brother.

“What?” Kaida and Keina both asked, turning their heads back to see Kin come running up to them.

“What’s going on, Kin?” Keina asked, stopping her sister in front of her.

“He’s rude to Naruto and Kanon,” She hissed angrily, pointing her finger in Sasuke’s direction.

“Is that true, Sasuke?” Shisui asked the boy behind him.

“No,”

“Yes!” Kin yelled, pointing at him.

“Want me to go get Itachi?” Shisui asked.

“No… I may have been a little rude. But she hit me,” Sasuke said, telling on girl.

“I think you should go back and apologize,” Shisui said, putting Sasuke back on the ground beside Kin.

“Kin, apologize for hitting Sasuke. We should use our words first, not our fist,” Kaida sighed, looking at her sister. Not that she necessarily disapproves of defending people, but she didn’t want her sister to start fights.

“Fine, let’s go, Kin,” Sasuke said, turning and walking the other way.

“I’m sorry I hit you first... Next time I’ll talk first then hit you,”


	6. Chapter Six: Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter will start off the Uchiha massacre. Quite a bit of my information for and the character dialogue between Shisui and Danzo comes from Itachi's story Midnight. 
> 
> As always I do not own Naruto any of the characters or lore in the series. 
> 
> The massacre is still going to happen in this story jut a little differently. It will be taking place in the next chapter.

The pale crescent moon shone like a bright, silver scar in the night sky, amidst millions of tiny little lights. The warm night air of June blew through open bedroom windows blowing thin curtains in its wake. All around, everything was calm. Kaida and Keina had just gotten to sleep themselves. They arrived home from the festival a few hours ago. It had taken a few hours to get their excited but tired sisters ready for bed, and the older girls were tired themselves, having a long day ahead of them tomorrow. The twins jumped from their beds, wide awake from years of missions, at an ear-splitting scream breaking the silence of the night. Kaida held her tanto in hand unsheathed, while Keina had a kunai she slept with under her pillow.

"The girls," Keina whispered as she ran to her sister's bedroom after Kaida. The twins rushed down the hallway, making it to their sister’s bedroom in seconds. Kaida shoved the door open without stopping, coming to a stop in the middle of the room tanto raised. Keina was in a similar fighting position as her sister with her kunai. They let their eyes scan the room for danger, finding Kuma holding a scared Kanon on her bed. Both girls were looking at Kin, who was still screaming, thrashing under her covers in her sleep.

“Kaida, pin her before she hurts herself,” Keina ordered her twin. She was worried that her sister was having a night of terror and was going to hurt herself with her thrashing. Kaida dropped her sword as her sister asked, pinning her little sister’s legs and arms down to the bed. Keina took a deep breath and focused her chakra to her hand. Soon her hand was enveloped in a green glow that she brought to Kin’s head. Keina focused on trying to help her sister out of the intense nightmare. Kaida slowly eased her grip on her little sister as her thrashing slowed, and her screams stopped thanks to the healing chakra of Keina.

“You can move away from her now… I’m going to wake her up,” Keina said, glancing up at her twin, who nodded. Keina pushed just a little more chakra into her sister’s brain, working it around her neural pathways to pull her the rest of the way out of her nightmare.

“Is Kin okay?” Kuma asked from where she sat, holding her scared little sister. Kaida looked over to her other sisters before glancing back at Kin and sharing a look with Keina.

“You don’t think?” Keina asked, holding Kaida’s gaze.

“They haven’t,” Kaida said, tilting her head in Kuma and Kanon’s direction. The twins were worried about what the nightmare could mean for Kin, worried that she might be experiencing what they believed to be the memories of their past lives.

“Kuma, Kanon, why don’t you guys go get the mochi downstairs as a snack. Yeah?” Kaida suggested to her sisters, calmly resting back on the foot of Kin’s bed.

“Really? You are going to let us eat mochi in the middle of the night?” Kanon squealed, hopping from the bed in excitement.

“It’ll be our secret, yeah?” Kaida smiled.

“Is Kin okay, though?” Kuma asked, getting down from her bed.

“Of course, silly… Do you think we’d be so calm if she wasn’t?”

“Kuma, you know Kin... She’ll be a little embarrassed when she wakes up. So, go eat your mochi okay,” Kaida laughed, trying to reassure her sisters as well, “We’re just going to talk to her okay,” she stated, ushering her sister out the door.

“You are not very comforting, Kaida, you’re as comforting as Kin, and that’s as comforting as a starving fox,” Kuma huffed, turning around to stare up at her sister.

“Well, aren’t we nice to our big sister. I can be comforting,” Kaida defended, holding a hand to her chest, just getting a deadpan look from her little sister, “Fine, I suck at it… Keina’s here… Okay… Keina will do all the talking. I’ll keep my mouth shut,”

Kuma nodded her little head, dark pink curls bouncing at her older sister's promise. With the appeasement of Kaida not saying a word to her other triplet, Kuma grabbed Kanon’s hand and pulled her sister down the hallway towards the stairs. Kaida shook her head, shutting the door, long light blue hair twirling around her as she turned only to find Keina laughing at her. “What” she hissed.

“Even our sister thinks you suck at being comforting,” Keina laughed, sitting down on the bed beside Kin’s head.

“Whatever,”

“Kaida, Keina,”

Both girls looked down as Kin called their names, opening her eyes slowly as if she was afraid of what she would see when she opened them fully.

“We’re right here, sis?” Keina answered as both she and Kaida each grabbed one of Kin’s hands. They were trying to ground their sister in reality instead of wherever her mind was at the moment.

“What’s wrong, Kin? What did you see?” Kaida asked, shifting her weight to her knees. So, she was kneeled by the bed now instead of crouched beside it as she had been a few minutes ago.

“Way to be gentle, Kaida,” Keina reminded, smacking her sister upside the head for her brash question of their sister. She worked with kids all the time in the hospital who had night terrors. Kaida’s straightforwardness might be helpful in the field, but it wasn’t useful in a situation like this.

“It’s okay, Kin… You tell us when you are ready,”

“I think something really bad is going to happen to Shisui and Itachi,” Kin whispered, closing her eyes tightly against the memories of her nightmare. She knew the life of a ninja wasn't a nice once. She had seen Kaida come home many times covered in blood, blood that wasn’t her own. Had seen Keina come back the same a few times. She knew they tried to hide a lot of their job from them, but they let her see a little. Not any fighting, they never allow her to see any of their missions or any mission aftermath, but they didn’t hide from her when they came home covered in blood from a bad mission. They just walked by her to the bathroom and clean up, then told her she would understand when she graduated from the academy.

“What?” Kaida asked quietly at first, “What?” she asked, again, picking her sister up under the arms and sitting her up.

“Kaida?” Keina asked, wondering just what the hell had gotten into Kaida. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk yet about the strange conversation she and Shisui had the night before.

“Listen to me. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Kin,” Kaida started holding her sister’s head between her hands, locking their gaze, “But I need you to tell me what you saw, okay. I need you to tell me everything… If you don’t, a lot of people might die,”

“Kaida, what’s?”

“Not right now, Keina!”

“I saw a scary-looking man with half his face covered in bandages speaking to Shisui about using something called the Mangekyō Sharingan to stop a coup d’etat. They had a scary conversation. I think he was threatening Shisui. He said, the poison of a scorpion, or spider, can bring even an enormous beast to death,” she whispered with a shaking voice, still scarred by the memories of what she saw.

“What happened,” Kaida sucked in a breath. She had a sinking feeling in her gut for the past few days that something terrible was going to happen.

“A man with a mask, like yours, showed up; they poisoned Shisui… Then the scary man pulled,” Kin breath shuddered, “He pulled out Shisui’s eye,”

“Oh, my-” Keina let out a breath covering her mouth with her hand. Danzo, that was who her little sister was describing. A village leader, she was describing a village leader stealing an Uchiha’s Sharingan. That, that was beyond evil.

“Kin, do you know when?” Kaida asked gently, keeping her voice even. She believed her sister saw the future. She didn’t know how but they all had _‘gifts.’_ Maybe this was her sisters.

“Tonight,”

“Keina listen to me very carefully,” Kaida ordered voice, taking on the same tone she used for missions. Standing, she quickly formed the hand signs to make two shadow clones before retrieving her tanto, “Go get Itachi… Then go to the Hokage. Tell him everything you just heard. He’ll know what to do. I’m going to find Shisui. Kin stay here with Kuma, Kanon, and with my shadow clone, do not leave this house, do not open the door,”

“Kaida,” Keina grabbed her sister’s arm. One of the village leaders was going to attack an Uchiha to steal their eye; this was dangerous. Just what was Kaida getting them involved in?

“Please… I have to help them. Don’t ask right now. I’ll explain later,” Kaida finished before jumping out of the window behind Kin’s bed out into the night.

“Are they all going to die?”

“What?” Keina asked, head jerking down to look at Kin.

“The Uchiha’s, are they all going to die?” Kin asked, voice small as she wrapped around tiny arms around her legs. _‘Even at eight years old, the triplets were still small for their age,’_ Keina thought, looking down at her sister. Keina sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“No, Kin, we are going to help. Just stay here, okay,” Keina answered, making a shadow clone of her own, “Don’t tell you sisters, okay?”

“Okay,” Kin nodded, watching as Keina left the same way Kaida did before turning back to her sister’s shadow clones.

………………………..

Kaida raced through the trees, searching for Shisui chakra signature as she hopped from branch to branch on her way to the compound. There was supposed to be a meeting tomorrow at Nakano Shrine. She had to find Shisui before Danzo. No doubt about it, that was the man Kin saw in her dream, she wasn’t sure who the other man was, but he had to be Foundation. That meant he was going to be hard to beat. The foundation shinobi were excellent and entirely loyal to Danzo only. Kaida knew she had to stop Danzo. If he killed Shisui, that would destroy village relations with the clan. They would never believe one of their own committed suicide. Danzo was too smart to get caught, killing a member of the Uchiha. He’d lose his standing in the village for that, but she could save Shisui, and they could prove it. Then they might be able to convince the Hokage to take action against Danzo. She just needed to find Shisui. There! Kaida finally found his signature following it. It wasn’t long till she was dropping down, only to see the scene her sister described to her. Danzo was standing in front of Shisui, who there was something wrong, and behind him a man in a white tiger mask. She was too late.

“Kaida, get out of here,” Shisui ordered in a strained voice. He could already feel the effects of the poison working in his blood. Danzo was dangerous. What the hell did Kaida think she was doing. Itachi would kill him if he let something happen to their blue-hair teammate, to hell with her being able to defend herself. Itachi would blame him if something happened to Kaida and possibly kill Danzo.

“Danzo, you-”

“You-”

“Kill the girl,” Danzo ordered the man in a white tiger mask.

“Danzo… What are you…” Shisui started speaking only to be interrupted by Danzo.

“I’m doing this,” Danzo said as he reached out his left hand. Kaida knew she couldn’t let what Kin saw in her dream happen. She had been building her chakra up since leaving her house. In the blink of an eye, a huge fireball was in her hand. Kaida threw one fireball at the white tiger mask and one at Danzo, forcing them both back and giving her time to fling her arms around her friend. Willing what they had been working on for the past few days to work. In the next few seconds, Kaida and Shisui disappeared in a wall of flames.

…………

(With Keina)

Keina raced toward the compound, praying that Itachi was there. She wasn’t as familiar with his chakra signature as Kaida and didn’t think she would be able to track him by. That and she doubted he wouldn’t be suppressing his signature. It didn’t take her long to make her way to the compound. Thanks to her family's close friendship with the clan, she easily made it through the gates even so late or early, she supposed. After making it through the compound gates, she quickly made her way to Itachi’s house, praying he was at home still. He should be considering it was one in the freaking morning. Making it to the door, she banged on it, not knowing which window belonged to Itachi and not having the time to see.

“What do you mean coming to my HOME,” the deep voice of Fugaku Uchiha boomed as he opened the door. Behind him stood his wife.

“I’m sorry, sir, but-” Keina started bowing her head in respect to the head of the Uchiha clan.

“Keina, dear?”

“Keina, what,” Itachi asked, walking into the front room to see what all the commotion was about so early in the morning. He hadn’t expected to find Keina. He felt knots in his stomach at seeing Kaida’s twin. ‘ _Why was she at his house at one in the morning?’_

“We have a mission… I was sent to fetch you,” Keina spit out. She remembered that Kaida had warned her only to tell Itachi and the Hokage what she had heard. She didn’t know why, but she was sure her sister had a good reason. So, she had spat out the first believable lie she could come up with as to why she was waking them up. “You need to grab your gear. It's important that we leave right away,” Keina stressed, letting some of her stress bleed into her words. She watched as Itachi’s eyes widened slightly. No doubt knowing, she was lying and knowing the reason.

“Of course, I’ll be right back,” He nodded, disappearing.

“I’m truly sorry for the intrusion. It’s a very sudden mission,” Keina apologized again, lifting her head to see Itachi coming back.

“Let’s go,” Itachi said, walking past Keina expecting her to follow him. He knew something terrible had happened. He just didn’t know what, and he hoped it wasn't something that was going to hurt those dear to him. Once they were away from the compound, Itachi stopped and turned, forcing Keina to come sliding to a halt from the fast pace he had been moving at.

“What going on,”

“Boy, you and my sister need to take classes on talking to people,” Keina huffed, taking a deep breath, trying to relieve some tension that she felt at the situation that she found herself in, “ Look you, and I need to go to the Hokage. I only want to explain this once,”

Itachi raised an eyebrow, tension feeling his body, “It’s bad,”

“Yeah,” Keina laughed humorlessly, taking off towards the Hokage residence, Itachi, right after her.

“Where’s Kaida?” Itachi asked after a few minutes. Not able to keep the worry from bleeding into his voice, not able to hold back his question anymore. The look on Keina's face when she looked back at him made ice fill his heart. “Your answer,”

“Hokage first,” Keina repeated. They race through the village, hopping from rooftop to rooftop till they finally made it to the Hokage residence. They found the Hokage already in his office, sitting behind his desk. Itachi waved to the Anbu on duty before sliding open the window for him and Keina to slip through.

“Itachi, it’s very early… Keina, to what do I owe a visit from some of my brightest ninjas?” The Hokage asked, looking up from his work.

“Hokage, I have sensitive information. I need you to send the Anbu away and seal this room,” Keina said, stepping up towards the Hokage. Itachi raised an eyebrow, the only outward sign he showed, but inside he felt fear. Just want was going on.

“Keina,”

“Please, you don’t want them hearing this,” She pleaded. The Hokage turned his eyes on the young girl taking in her nearly desperate look for him to believe her and the young Uchiha standing behind her.

“Okay,” He agreed. Keina was a medical genius that often reminded him of his own student. She wouldn’t have asked without reason. with a wave, he dismissed his guards and then quickly formed the string of signs to sill the room. “Okay, now what’s going on,”

“I don’t know the whole story, but my sister does. I know Itachi does, and you do…” Keina started looking back at Itachi, who stared blankly at her, “let me finish my whole story before you ask me to question, okay?”

“You have my word, dear,” The Hokage promised, lying his work down on his desk, giving the girl his full attention. Having a feeling this was going to have to do with the Uchiha.

“Okay… Earlier tonight, my younger sister Kin had a vision of the future, what Kaida believed to be the future… Kin told us that in her dream, she saw a scary-looking man with half his face covered in bandages speaking to Shisui about using something called the Mangekyō Sharingan to stop a coup d’etat. They had a scary conversation, and she thought he was threatening Shisui. She said the man said the poison of a scorpion, or spider, can bring even an enormous beast to death. Then, she said she saw a man with a mask, a lot like Kaida’s and Itachi’s show up. She said she thought they’d poisoned Shisui before the man with the bandages pulled, out Shisui’s eye,” Keina said, taking a deep breath. She glanced back at Itachi, who still looked stone face. She wondered what was going on in his mind. “Kaida seemed scared. She told me to get you, Itachi, to talk to no one but you and the Hokage… That she was going after Shisui,”

“She what?” Itachi demanded, grabbing Keina arms. Keina let out a hiss at the grip he had on her arms. “Where did Kin see them?” he was going after them both. Danzo was trying to kill his best friend. This would only worsen things with his clan, and Kaida, his... She was one of the most important people in his life next to his little brother, and she had to run off and get herself more involved. She was going to get herself killed. _‘I swear that girl isn’t a genius,’_ Itachi swore in his head. Keina and Itachi both jumped in front of the Hokage when a massive swirling wall of fire suddenly appeared in the room. Each one covering their eyes as the flames swirled faster and faster, getting tighter till they disappeared, leaving in their place Kaida kneeling on the ground holding up Shisui’s form.

“Kaida, Shisui,” came Itachi’s shocked voice at Kaida’s entrance. He had been helping her with that jutsu. However, she hadn’t been able to complete it just yet. Itachi moved to his friend’s side, dark eyes scanning over both of them. Kaida looked beautiful, if not a little worn from using a massive about of chakra at once. They would have to build up her endurance for her fire jutsu, allowing her to travel from one place to another. His eyes scanned Shisui next; he didn’t look so hot; something was wrong with his friend. Kneeling, he pulled one of Shisui's arms from around Kaida’s neck, placing it around his neck. “Let’s get him to the couch,” he said, helping Kaida lift Shisui’s form.

“Keina, help… I don’t know what poison Danzo used,” Kaida said as she and Itachi help Shisui get comfortable on the couch.

“What has happened, Shisui?” The Hokage asked, moving from behind his desk toward the young ninja in his office. He didn’t want to believe an old friend of his would do something so horrible.

“Danzo attacked me with one of his foundation ninjas,” Shisui struggled, taking shallow breaths, “He wanted my Mangekyō Sharingan, knew what I planned to do… Tried to steal it right out of my eye,”

Itachi clutched his fist tighter, listening to Shisui. He had never felt anger like this before. He wanted to kill Danzo. He felt the blood running down his clenched fist, he wasn’t a violent person, didn’t like fighting, but he wanted to leave his Hokage’s office and murder the man who had hurt his friend.

“Itachi,” Kaida whispered from where she sat on the couch, arm between Shisui and Itachi. “Stop,” she asked, quietly wrapping her hands around his closed fist. Itachi closed his eyes, relaxing his hand in Kaida’s grip, holding her hand, lacing their fingers together.

The Hokage sucked in a breath at the news watching the children in front of him. _‘No,’_ he thought these were not children anymore. Three of them were Anbu black ops, and the other one was a talented jounin healer. He watched as Keina checked over, Shisui's body, hands glowing. Watched as the anger played out in Itachi’s eyes, only for Kaida to calm him with just a few words. He took a deep breath, “Keina, can you heal Shisui?”

“I don’t know what type of poison was used, but it’s in the lymphatic system. I think I can remove it,” she nodded briefly, turning her eyes back to the Hokage.

“Do you need anything?”

“Some water,”

“Okay,” Take Hokage dropped the sealing jutsu signaling his Anbu guards to came back. He waved for one of the captains to come into the room. “Fox, go bring Fugaku Uchiha here to speak with me right away. Take a few members of your team, send another team to bring Danzo in for questioning. I will not stand for this behavior,” The Hokage ordered, quickly explaining the situation to the Anbu captain, who threw a look at Itachi before leaving.

“Right away,” Fox bowed his head.

“Itachi and I will go get some water,” Kaida said, linking her arm with Itachi’s and pulling him with her, “We’ll be right back,” She called to over her shoulder. The Hokage gave a heavy sigh and dropped into his seat behind his desk.

“Hey Keina,” Shisui whispered.

“You shouldn’t be talking right now,” Keina reprimanded Shisui as she looked up to find a grin on his face, rolling her eyes, “What?”

“Want to make a bet with a dying person?” Shisui asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You aren’t dying… Drama queen. I know what I’m doing,” Keina huffed, shaking her head at the boy’s antics.

“Well, then the bet’s even better,” He laughed pitifully.

“Did you see Itachi and Kaida?” he asked.

“I’ve been a little busy,” Keina replied, glowing hands tracing the poison through his body.

“I bet you a month by pay he’ll ask Kaida to marry him when they get older,” he said seriously, holding Keina’s gaze for a few minutes.

“Really? What about Izumi? You know Itachi likes Izumi too,” Keina pointed out, looking up at Shisui, who just gave her a funny look. Not that she wouldn’t tease her sister relentlessly if that happened, she just didn’t think it would. Kaida was good friends with Itachi. She was sure Kaida considered Itachi her best friend, but she didn’t think her sister was in love with Itachi. Now, Izumi was she knew that.

“Naw, Izumi’s not his type… Kaida is… or will be… You know in a few years,”

“Really?” Keina raised an eyebrow, sarcasm deep in her voice.

“You take the bet or not?”

“It’s your money,” she laughed, she loved her sister, but she didn’t see her sister falling in love with anyone, let alone agreeing to marry anyone.


	7. Chapter Seven: Unlit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or stories with Naruto. 
> 
> We are getting close to the next time skip.

Kaida drug Itachi down the hallway of the Hokage tower towards the breakroom to get the bowel of water her sister needed; the breakroom was used by the secretary and other advisories that worked at the tower. The Anbu guard also used the breakroom on their breaks instead of heading back to Anbu headquarters. It was easiest to stay close to the Hokage even on breaks. 

"We-"

Itachi twisted from Kaida's grip, grabbing her arms in a vice-like grip before shoving her back into the counter, crowding her with his taller frame. He glared down at her, only receiving a raised eyebrow in return as red eyes met steel-blue grey as Kaida was forced to turn her head up to look at him.

"May I help you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"What were you thinking?" he hissed down at her, anger bleeding into his words. He had told her to stay out of it. He didn't tell her everything for her to go and get in the middle of his and Shisui's problems, putting her life in danger. 

"Would you rather I let him die?" she hissed back with the same venom in her voice, pressing her hand against the center of Itachi's chest, trying to push the taller boy back. Not liking how much he was crowding her at the moment. 

"Don't get sarcastic with me, Kaida-"

"Oh, is that not helping?" She asked, voice dripping with sarcasm as he tightened his grip more on her arms. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from hissing at the pain in her arms from his tight grip. No doubt she'd have bruising tomorrow.

"Kaida! Fucking hell... What is wrong with you," Itachi raised his voice this time, jerking Kaida as he shook her in his anger. ' _Why hadn't she just come and gotten him,'_ Danzo could be after her too now. Danzo could go after her family now too, and she could have just put more than her life on the line. She made him so angry; he fumed, trying to breathe through his anger. He was furious with her, and she was standing here making jokes. She was supposed to be smart, and she goes and does something stupid like this. "Do you have any fucking clue what could have happed to both of you, Kaida? You're so stupid-" 

Kaida glared, eyes burning. She knew Itachi was upset, but she wasn't going to stand here and listen to him talk to her like this. She jerked her head back and slammed it into his head. A loud cracking sounded rung throughout the otherwise quiet room. Itachi let out a surprised noise as Kaida's forehead slammed into his nose.

"What the fuck Kaida," Itachi exclaimed, letting go of her taking a few steps back, holding his now broken, bleeding nose.

"I don't know who you think you are talking to, Itachi Uchiha, but you will never speak to me that way again," Kaida spoke low and icy, "I understand you are upset, angry, and scared. I'll always be there for you, you are my best friend, but if you ever speak to me that way again, I will walk away and never speak to you again. Do you understand me?"

Itachi sucked in a few deep breaths through his mouth, watching the fire in his friend's eyes as she spoke. He paced around the kitchen, taking a few minutes to calm himself. He regretted the way he talked to Kaida. She was right; he had no right to speak to her that way. There was no excuse for it, but she could have gotten herself killed, and for what? His family. He didn't want that; he wasn't sure he could live with himself if he knew his friend died because of him. He let out a sigh dropping to sit down on a chair in the room. Moving his hand from his face, he looked back up at Kaida, "I'm sorry,"

"I know," was all she said as she busied herself with wetting a towel with warm water and moved to Itachi's side. "Itachi, don't insult me. I'm in Anbu for a reason I can take care of myself," she reassured her friend, placing her hand under his chin. Itachi let her tilt his face up, holding his jaw in her hand. He leaned his head into her callused palm as she started to clean the blood covering his face off with the rag.

"I know, you've beaten me a few times," he answered as he sat there, letting her clean his blood from his face, "Did you have to break my nose?"

"Well, you were being an asshole," she replied, reaching down to grab his hand, wiping the blood from his hand as well.

"Well, guess I deserved it, huh?" 

"Yep," she let the 'p' pop, moving over to the sink burning the rag to ash in her hand over the sink. "Grab a bowl,"

Itachi sighed, getting up, moving over to the cabinet to get a bowl out of it, filling it with water from the sink. "Let's get this back,"

Kaida knocked on the door to the Hokage's office, waiting with Itachi at her back to be told she could enter. After hearing the Hokage's voice telling them to come in, they moved through the door. 

"Itachi," 

Itachi turned his head at the deep voice of his father, who was standing staring there in front of the Hokage's desk, glaring at the man seated behind the desk. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the figure of the man beside his father. Yashiro Uchiha, a significant conspirator in planning this coup to overthrow Konoha's government. There were very few people Itachi hated, and this man was one of them. This man was one of the people who were tearing his family apart, one of the reasons he had to act as a double agent between his village and his clan, one of the reasons his friends just had their life threatened. Itachi moved closer to Kaida, handing her the bowl, leaning down close to her, lips by her ear, "Let me handle this," He whispered low enough only for her to hear. Kaida lifted her eyes to his before taking the bowl and moving over to Shisui and her sister.

"Firecracker… Did I think you yet?" Shisui laughed, looking up at Kaida as she sat down beside him, holding the bowl of water for her sister. 

"Think me," Kaida grinned, looking at her sister, who was focused, "Is he okay?"

"No,"

"Father?" Itachi asked, moving to stand beside the Hokage.

"What is the meaning of the Anbu pulling me here before dawn?… What happened to Shisui?" Fugaku demanded, glancing back at Shisui lying on the couch, who was being tended to by Itachi's teammate and her twin, who was a healer.

"Hey!, Explanations are going to have to wait if you want Shisui to survive," Keina said, standing up. "Itachi, help me lay him on the ground. Kaida set the bowl by his head," she ordered. They worked quickly and got Shisui laid out on the floor.

"How can we trust these-"

"Kaida saved my life," Shisui struggled to get out between pained breaths. Kaida patted his shoulder.

"Listen, I know you don't know what's going on, but my sister can save him," Kaida said, her soft voice hard looking up into the dark, hard eyes of the two older Uchiha men. The Hokage remained silent, staying seated in his chair. He watched how the young ninja in the room handled themselves. They would be the future of this village.

"How can we trust them, Fugaku. They-"

"Shut up," Itachi spoke, voice cold and level as he positioned himself behind Kaida. His dark eyes glaring over her, looking up at his father. He might have grown quite a bit in the last few years, but he was still much shorter than his father, "I trust them with my life, so does Shisui," he said, holding his father's attention. Fugaku took in his son's words, nodding his head once.

"What do you need from us?" he asked Keina. He held up his hand, silencing any words from Yashiro. He would help this young girl, but then he wanted answers.

"Hold him down… It's going to hurt when I pull the poison from his body," Keina ordered, leaving no room for discussion as she used a chakra scalpel to cut open Shisui's shirt. She then made an incision on his upper chest. Looking back up, "Are you waiting for an invention," 

Itachi was already kneeled beside Kaida, holding Shisui's leg down. He looked up at his father and Yashiro, who both took deep breaths at being ordered around. Before kneeling to help hold Shisui down. Keina took a deep breath, "Hokage, can you have one of the Anbu come in and keep him quiet?"

"Of course, Fox," the Hokage called out to Fox, appeared back through the window, moving to kneel at Shisui's head placing, his hand under Shisui's chin and mouth. He had been listening at the window and knew what the healer was expecting of him. Keina nodded to the man in the Fox mask before starting. Shisui eyes wide, and his body filled with a searing fire, that took over his mind. He started trying to move, trying to get away from the painful stimuli. Everyone pressed harder, pinning his limbs to the floor. Shisui felt like days passed before the pain subsided, to be replaced by a cooling feeling. "Okay, I got it all," Keina nodded, letting everyone know they could let go of Shisui and stand back up. 

"Will he live?" Fugaku asked, looking down at the two blue-haired girls who stayed kneeled by Shisui's side.

"Yes, Shisui will make a full recovery," Keina nodded, sitting back on her heels. Kaida smiled at her sister, helping Shisui sit up when he asked her.

"Now, explain to me what is going on," Fugaku demanded, turning to his Hokage. The Hokage gave a heavy sigh feeling his age in the stare of the two adult Uchiha in front of him. He had done a poor job for a while concerning the Uchiha, and now he was paying for that. He had ignored too much and allowed his old friend too much power. He hopes to find a peaceful solution with the Uchiha still. Now he feared Danzo's actions would make that impossible. He took a long drag from his pipe before starting the long explanation that led them to where they were. 

Fugaku stood stone face beside Yashiro as they listened to the Hokage tell them how he knew about the unrest between the village and the Uchiha, how he wanted to find a peaceful negotiation, how Itachi and Shisui had been helping to try and find a peaceful end to the idea of a coup leaving out their plan for using Shisui eyes. He went on to tell them how Danzo had taken his power too far, how this was his fault for giving his friend so much power. He explained that Danzo had done the unthinkable and attacked Shisui, poisoning him in hopes of still one of his eyes, but Kaida had intervened and gotten Shisui to her sister in time.

"You've been having the Anbu watch the compound, turned my own son against me,"

"This is outrageous… I've been telling-"

"Yashiro…" Fugaku spoke, hardly silencing the man beside him with a dark look.

"Father," Itachi spoke, taking a step forward so that he stood beside the Hokage, who was seated in his chair. Pushing his anger at his father down. His father and Yashiro were the reason were part of the reason they were in this position. 

"I'll deal with you later, boy… You betrayed your own family, and for what they are reporting against us," Fugaku growled lowly at his son. He had thought he could trust his son to be on his side on the side of the clan and to find out his son had been going behind his back. Itachi felt anger and grief, two conflicting emotions that he forced down. He felt anger at his father for putting him in this position and grief at his father's disappointment. 

"Please, Fugaku…" The Hokage started standing up, hands raised in a placating gesture towards the Uchiha clan's head. He didn't want this to come to them vs. us. He wanted this resolved peacefully. 

"Keina, can I use my Mangekyō Sharingan?" Shisui asked, glazing over to Keina.

"Maybe, but you're likely to pass out. Your body has been through a lot today. It's likely to put a toll on to use that much chakra at once after everything else that's happened," Keina answered, looking back at Shisui, taking her eyes off the tense form of her sister who was standing in front of them watching the tense scene play out in front of them.

"Kaida," Shisui hissed out, grabbing Kaida's wrist when her weight shifted. He knew Itachi didn't want Kaida to get in the middle of this impulsively. Kaida might be a genius and a great at strategy, but she was insanely impulsive. That impulsivity got her in trouble, and he knew it drove Itachi insane on missions; Kaida wasn't exactly great at taking orders, especially if she didn't agree they were the best course of action. Though if anyone could deal with Kaida's impulsivity best, it was either her sister or Itachi. But he just couldn't let her jump in the middle of something Itachi had already asked her to stay out of. Shisui knew Keina would let her sister jump in the fight if she wanted to. Keina didn't often get involved in curbing her sister's impulsive antics unless she thought it was going to hurt her sister. "Itachi asked you," he reminded, earning him a nasty look in return. He let out a sigh returning his attention to the drama playing out in front of them.

They watched as the argument between the Hokage, Fugaku, and Yashiro disintegrated further. Kaida watched the small changes on Itachi's face telling her what he was feeling. That he was angry, guilty, Kaida didn't think he had a reason to feel guilty about anything. He had worked hard, done things he should never have had to done to save not only his family but his village. She hated his father, hated him for standing here talking down to Itachi, hated him for putting Itachi in this position. She felt her blood boil as Yashiro took digs at her friend as the argument took an even nasty turn. Her eyes caught Yashiro's movement and read his intent to move. She felt a vice-like grip on her wrist as she moved to intervene. She shot Shisui a nasty look at his reminder of what Itachi had made her promise. They watched as Yashiro pulled a kunai and made a to attack the Hokage in the middle of the argument; in a flash, Itachi was in front of the Hokage Sharingan activated his kunai drawn. 

"Kaida," Shisui pulled on her arm, hoping she knew what he wanted. Kaida barely nodded her head before turning and hurling Shushi up, throwing his arm over her shoulder and wrapping bother her arms around his waist, leaving her with her head almost pressed against his chest thanks to their height difference. "Now," he whispered as the fight between Itachi and Yashiro ended with Itachi victorious. Leaving Itachi standing over the dead body of his clansmen and Fugaku stunned at what had just happened. The next second found Kaida and Shisui reappearing in swirling flames that forced a stunned Fugaku to jump back a few steps. Anbu moved to fill the room, halting in their tracks as the Hokage gave them a hand sign signaling them to stay out. 

As the flames disappeared, Fugaku looked at the space the flames took up. As they disappeared in their place stood his son's teammate, one he spoke highly about, Kaida he thought her name was and Shisui. So, Shisui was going to side with the village as well. Then so be it the coup could start if the village was going to turn their own against them. Fugaku activated his Sharingan standing straight. He faced the girl and Shisui; he was sweating heavily.

"I can't build up enough ch-" Shisui struggled out before passing out, falling to the floor, taking Kaida with him in her attempt to keep him from hitting the floor too hard. Fugaku gave a grim smile and moved to attack as the girl was distracted with Shisui. He'd kill her first; whatever that fire jutsu was could prove problematic, and the Hokage was staying out of the fight for now. Itachi interceded, blocking his father's attack and catching his father's eyes. Fugaku eyes widened. He didn't want to fight his son, didn't want to harm him. Fugaku realized too late that he was looking at the Mangekyō Sharingan in his own son's eyes. Fugaku was surprised by the hard, angry, determined look in his son's eyes; he had such a hard time reading his son. Itachi was almost expressionless, his eyes the same, but right now, he could see clearly. These two people behind his son were important. What had happened to his son to give him the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Itachi used his Mangekyō Sharingan to show his father a version of the future he feared would come true if they didn't find Danzo. He played a private conversion that Danzo had with him days before all of this, where he had asked Itachi what price he would be willing to pay to ensure peace in the village, to ensure his brother's life. He knew what Danzo was hinting at. Danzo didn't want any kind of peaceful resolution. No, Danzo wanted him to kill his whole clan. So, that's what he played. Then he changed it to what he hoped they could achieve here, peace. He should have seen this coming.

"I see," Fugaku said, his voice shaking from what his son had just forced him to see. He backed down and dropped his weapon, dropping to his knees in front of his Hokage. He didn't care for his pride; he wanted his son, family, and clan to live. They should have turned from their anger long ago. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late to undo all the damage he helped create. "Hokage-"

"Stand up Fugaku, my predecessors, and I have treated the Uchiha wrong, for that I apologize… Wanted a peaceful solution. I hope we will reach one," The Hokage bowed his head to the Uchiha clan head as he stood. He truly hoped they could come to a peaceful resolution. "Once everything is taken care of. I hope to discuss ways to fix relations with your clan,"

"That will take a lot, especially now after this," Fugaku inclined his head to the Hokage. He would talk to him and try to work on ways to fix their retaliations with the village peacefully. 

"I sent a team after Danzo-" the Hokage said, looking around at the ninja in his office, "The team should be back soon,"

"Lord Third," The Anbu said, addressing their Hokage after poofing back into the Hokage office. They kneeled in front of the Hokage desk. Heads bowed; they had failed in their mission. "We could not find Lord Danzo, and the members of the foundation are missing; all that are left are the children,"

"Have the children gathered and taken to the Anbu section of the hospital. I want them guarded. Wake up, Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara bring them here,"

"Hai," Two of the Anbu order before disappearing to gather the do as asked. They would stop by the Anbu headquarters and grab a few more members loyal to the village. 

"Lord Third," a jounin yelled, rushing into the office he had been on guard on the wall of the village near the Uchiha compound. The man stopped in his tracks at finding a room filled with Anbu and the head of the Uchiha clan. His eyes landed on the dead body in the middle of the room.

"Yes," the Hokage asked, knocking the man out of his stupor.

"The Uchiha compound is under attack,"

"What?"

"It must be Danzo," The Hokage spoke gravely, "Lord Fugaku, take my two Anbu teams and head back save as many as you can. I will follow with another Anbu team… Itachi, Kaida," the Hokage turned to give orders to two of his youngest Anbu members only to find them gone.

"They left Lord Third," Keina said, making sure Shisui wasn't going to fall off of the couch before turning around. 

"Hmm, Keina, go with Lord Fugaku and provide medical treatment. I will send more medic,"

"Yes,"


	8. Chapter Eight: Massacre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters. I also do not own any of the Naruto storylines.  
> We will try to upload the next chapter sometime next week.

Itachi and Kaida raced toward the compound, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Kaida prayed that they wouldn't find death when they arrived, but she was afraid they would. She didn't know what Danzo's plan was precisely with the Uchiha, but she knew what he was planning for Itachi. She knew he had tried to convince Itachi that killing his family was the best course of action, but Itachi had disagreed. She was betting that was why he had gone after Shisui to force matters _. 'But why did he want things to end so violently? And why try to steal Shisui's eyes?'_ Those were still the parts she was trying to piece together. It didn't take them long to see the compound coming into view and what they saw was appalling. The entire compound was up in flames, lighting up the darkness of the early morning. She couldn't believe the whole compound was on fire, and even from as far away as they stood, she and Itachi could hear the screaming. The screams of those trapped in the fires. There was a particular scream of a man being burned to death that you never forgot. The unmistakable sound of continued fighting as they watched showed bodies crashing together. 

"Itachi," Kaida called, hopping up to run by his side. She turned her eyes on him briefly before looking back ahead, worried about his mental state, but his face showed no emotion whatsoever. His face was as blank as always, and it bothered her. She hadn't even thought when she leaped out of the window after Itachi. She just went. She couldn't let him deal with this on his own; she was his friend. Friends were always there for each other. "What's our plan?" she asked after a beat.

"Danzo's probably attacking with some of his foundation… We'll save as many as we can, listen, Kaida. If anyone is trapped… You'll need to get them. I'll keep as many of Danzo's men busy as I can,"

"Whatever you need," Kaida nodded as they leaped down into the compound, leaping into the fighting. Kaida made it a point to ignore the mangled bodies of Itachi's dead family member lying along the ground. Young, and old strewn about, all with different fatal blows. She sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the sickening smelling of burning flesh coming from the still-burning fires. They kept fighting, killing foundation members after foundation members working back to back. They had been fighting for a few minutes when they saw the figures of more Anbu drop-down next to them along with Fugaku and Keina.

"Itachi, there are people trapped in the houses," Fugaku said, glancing at his son and the blue-haired girl fighting next to him.

"I know… Kaida, go get them," Itachi ordered, nodding his head at his teammate, who nodded back, disappearing in the house's flames closest to them. The others kept fighting. They kept forcing back the foundation members, gaining the advantage. The Hokage wanted them to be taken alive, but they were forcing those fighting to protect the Uchiha to kill them. 

"Itachi, you just sent that girl into a burning house she won't be able to-"

"Fire doesn't hurt Kaida," Itachi interrupted his father, glancing at the houses his teammate had disappeared into to see her walking back out with a child wrapped in her arms and the boy's mother clinging to her back. She was walking slowly, holding the lady to her and the boy making sure to touch both of them so the flames wouldn't hurt them. Itachi's red eyes caught the weapon flying at Kaida. She wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Not with two people holding to her, they weren't entirely out of the flames, and if she took her hands off them to protect herself, they would be burned. He flashed in front of her and knocked the weapon away, meeting the person head-on who had attacked his teammate while she was trying to save his clan members. The man got close as he and Itachi traded blows. He smirked, landing a killing blow on the younger boy. Only for Itachi's form to burst into crows as he came up behind the man slitting his throat. "Kaida," 

Fugaku paused in his fighting, trusting the Anbu around him momentarily to protect him as he watched his son save the girl, Kaida, he kept calling her. He knew Itachi was spending an awful amount of time with his female teammate. More time than was necessary for him to spend with the non-Uchiha girl he seemed so fond of, but he hadn't paid any mind to her name. He had just ordered that his son's relationship with her be watched, but Shisui had reported that it was nothing, just extra training in ensuring they were a well-trained team. Now, he could see that Shisui was lying. The boy had been covering for his son. He couldn't mistake the pride in his son's voice when he spoke of the girl. He was beyond impressed, watching this girl walk out of a burning house. Walking through flames like they were nothing. He would have to find out what she meant to his son. Itachi never looked at girls that way, not even that little Izumi, who he had thought was Itachi's girlfriend. Though he supposed that was a mistake, considering how Itachi was staring at the girl in front of him, now. That would have to be something he addressed with his son. He wondered if his son was aware of the look on his face. 

"Thanks, Itachi… Where's Keina? They need medical attention," Kaida gave Itachi a smile walking the two people she just saved closer to her friend, whose eyes scanned the area around them. More of their fellow Anbu surrounded them, giving them a minute.

"Kaida," 

Kaida turned her head to see her sister standing with the Anbu in the fox mask, and both looked a little ruff. Kaida inclined her head to the Anbu in the fox mask. She'd have to thank Kakashi later for helping her sister.

"You're a good fighter, but you can't fight and heal. I'll keep them away from you while you give medicine to those who are injured," Fox nodded before returning to the fight. 

"My son first," The woman coughed, almost falling to the ground only for Itachi to catch her and lower her to sit on the ground. Keina nodded, understanding the woman's desperation that her son is taken care of first. Keina took the boy from Kaida's arms and sat him on the ground in front of his mother before gathering her chakra to her hands. She focused on healing the smoke damage to the boy's lungs before turning to his more minor injuries. 

"Itachi," Kaida asked. Standing back up, she placed her hand on Itachi's upper arm, getting him to turn his head down to her. Red eyes burning bright in the dark, "Can you tell me which houses have people in them?" she asked, knowing the Sharingan allowed him to see chakra. That would tell her which houses to go in, which would save a lot of time. Itachi told her a few more houses to go into, and it wasn't long until her sister and quite a few patients surrounding her that Kaida had rescued, including some fighters. Kaida sighed, taking a deep breath. It was hard extending her ability that many times to so many people. "Any more?" She asked, bending down, leaning against her knees, taking a deep breath. She straightened upstanding to her full height, "Itachi?" she asked again at the hitch in his breath. From his chest to his eyes, she looked up, following his sightline to a house almost completely engulfed. 

"My mother, Sasuke, Naruto," he breathed out almost at a whisper, moving towards the burning house.

"Itachi," Kaida exclaimed, pushing in front of him and placing both hands on his chest, forcing Itachi to stop and look at her, "You're not fireproof… I'll go… You stay and help your father… I'll save them... I promise you; I'll save them for you,"

"Please, Kaida," Itachi started down, looking into her eyes, holding her hands in his. He nodded his head. He trusted Kaida, "Stay by my side. Save you chakra, I'll get you there," he tightened his grip on her for a minute. He knew she was running low on chakra after going into the houses and everything she had done for his family this day. He'd fight and get her there so she could save chakra. Kaida agreed to stay right next to Itachi as they made their way to the house that he said his mother, brother, and Naruto were in.

Kaida made her way into the home, walking quickly through the flames. She couldn't feel their heat on her skin. They felt like cool water touching her. She still didn't understand her ability with fire, but it sure came in handy. It didn't take her long to find Mikoto standing in the last part of the house. The flames have yet to touch over the dead body of a foundation member. Kaida could see Sasuke and Naruto both just standing there with shocked expressions on their faces. They shouldn't have to see death at this age, Kaida thought. Kaida snapped her eyes back to Mikoto, meeting the red of the Sharingan. 

"The flames aren't hurting you," Mikoto stated, narrowing her eyes at Kaida. This was the girl her son talked about. Itachi had mentioned that she could touch fire without getting hurt, but seeing was something else. Itachi didn't speak much, usually staying to himself, but she listened when he did; every time he talked about Kaida, and he spoke a lot about her. His voice would always fill with pride. But it wasn't just pride in his voice when he spoke of the girl. She had even teased her son a few times about his feeling for his teammate, to which he had said she was just a friend. She wanted to see both her sons grow up and fall in love, but this night made her wonder if that would happen. 

"No, they don't," Kaida respond, moving closer, stepping over the dead body at Mikoto's feet. The older women looked down at her, "Itachi sent me to come and get you out of the house,"

Mikoto looked at Kaida, looking the girl over. She could see the girl's chakra moving through her body. The girl was running low on chakra, and Mikoto was betting it took extra chakra for Kaida to extend her natural ability to someone else. "You are running out of chakra, Kaida,"

"If we go right now, I think I can still protect you all from the flames," 

They both jumped back as a man materialized in front of them. Kaida landed a few steps behind Mikoto, placing her directly in front of Naruto and Sasuke. Kaida blinked, standing in front of the boys. That was the masked man from the forest.

"What are you doing here," Mikoto bit out, glaring at the masked man standing in front of her. The man who had twisted her family's men's thoughts, making them think that this whole coup was their idea and not his. He had even convinced her husband well enough. She should have never gone along with any of it, but she had wanted to support her husband. He had convinced her they were doing what was best for her boys. Looking around now, how could any of this be what was good for her children. That man had played them, he had used them for his own game, and they had fallen for it. Now, they were paying the price with the lives of their clan. 

"Well, isn't this interesting," He commented, eyes moving over the two ladies landing on the two young children. He remembered the young blue-haired girl. She was quite interesting. He wondered if all flames would bend to her without hurting her. "The little fire girl... You and that captain of yours. You both are so interesting. Tell me do all flames bend to your will, girl?"

Kaida looked over to him as she took a step back towards the boys. Her eyes locking on his hands and feet. Itachi had told her about seeing the Sharingan in that mask, and she wasn't about to risk looking into his eye. She thought over his statement _quickly 'all flames bending to my will… He's asking about Itachi's, Amaterasu,'_ she thought, narrowing her eyes. "You know Itachi can use Amaterasu," she stated, knowing it wasn't even a question he did. The masked man let out a laugh sounding like a child who had just won a hide and seek game. Mikoto cut her eyes back to Kaida quickly before turning them back to the masked man. ' _How did he know her son could use Amaterasu, the only way he could would be if he had the Mangekyō Sharingan?'_

"Who would have thought that night I attacked you all on your mission that boy would awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan all because he thought you perished in your own flames… Imagine my surprise when you and that boy that saved you were perfectly fine. Now, no Uchiha is impervious to flames. So that power has to come from you. All ask again, do all flames bend to your will?"

Mikoto looked between the mask man and Kaida. She hadn't heard any of this story. She would have to ask Kaida about it later. She settled her eyes back on the man as he asked her about Amaterasu. ' _Why would he think Amaterasu wouldn't hurt her?'_ she wondered, thinking the question outrageous. Amaterasu, the black flames created by the Mangekyō Sharingan, could burn through anything and burn fire itself. She'd bet they'd burn Kaida as well.

"Itachi wouldn't use them on me," was Kaida's answer as she knelt between Naruto and Sasuke, pulling a Kunai from the floor. The muscles in her legs tensed, ready to move into a fight as the masked man took a step forward.

"Hmm, ooh, I think he's pretty protective of the people in this room," the man said, moving forward. Mikoto took a step back towards Kaida at the change in the man's tone. She put her hand to her back, giving Kaida a signal she hoped the girl would recognize. She wanted the girl to get the boys out of here. She'd have to try and stop this man. "He outside, yes, don't you think he would come in to protect his mother, his brother, his bothers friend, and of course you, Kaida,"

Kaida narrowed her eyes at seeing the signs Mikoto was making. Keeping her eyes on the masked man, she whispers lowly so only the boys would hear, "Listen carefully boys… Naruto, I need you to get on my back and hold on tight, make sure you are touching my skin. Sasuke come here," she said handing him the kunai as Naruto did as asked positioning himself on her back, "Do you have a good grip?" when he nodded against her, she pulled Sasuke closer, "I going to have to hold you to Sasuke it's the only way for me to keep you guys from getting burned," was all the explanation she offered before standing up pulling Sasuke into her arms. The boys both held tightly to Kaida, who now stood staring at the masked man. "Itachi wouldn't risk the lives of his family,"

"Oh, I think he would do anything to save the ones he loves… I think I could even get him to use those black flames. What do you say we find out?"

"Kaida, I want you to get the boys out of here," Mikoto whispered, turning her head so she could keep one eye on the masked man and one eye on Kaida.

"Mikoto-" Kaida started knowing where the older woman was going. She couldn't leave Itachi's mother in this building to fight this man; she wouldn't survive. 

"Promises me, Kaida… Promise you'll take care of Itachi. He takes such good care of his little brother and worries so much about everyone else. I jus-"

"I will," Kaida promised, closing her eyes. She already did what Mikoto was asking of her as Itachi's friend. She wasn't planning to stop. She cared for Itachi's wellbeing, worried about his health. She wasn't sure she could stop caring about Itachi at this point.

"Mom," Sasuke yelled, trying to pull away from Kaida, who tightened her grip.

"I'll be right behind you guys Sasuke," Mikoto smiled at her son before turning and glaring at the masked man, "You are done toying with my family," she said in a hard tone attacking him.

"Boy's close your eyes now," Kaida said as she moved quickly through the house, listening to the sounds of metal clashing that turned into the sound of a pained moan and body hitting the ground. Kaida took a shuttering breath and raced towards the door. 

"Itachi, where's your bother and mother?"

Itachi turned his head to his father, making his way towards him across the compound's grounds. The fighting had just ended. He took a deep breath through his mouth, avoiding looking directly at all of his family members' dead bodies. He cast his eyes back towards the house.

"We need to get the fire out-"

"I sent Kaida to get them," Itachi interrupted his father, Sharingan swirling as he watched the house. They both were forced to take a step back as the flames swirled up higher, completely engulfing the house. Itachi held his hand in front of his face watching with his Sharingan. His father stood tense beside him. "Kaida," he called, seeing the form of his friend's petite form rushing from the house with Naruto on her back, and Sasuke held to her front. Kaida made it in front of them before clasping to her knees, dropping the boys. Itachi pulled the boys up, pulling them away from Kaida to check them over. Both were shocked, he could tell. He'd have to try and get them to talk about what all they had seen. He turned his eyes back to Kaida as she slowly stood, turning to look back at the house with a shocked look of her own. Itachi looked from her back to the house. His mother was still in there.

"Where is my wife?" Fugaku bit out angrily at the girl standing there staring dumbfounded at the collapsed house. Itachi had told him she would save Sasuke and Mikoto. She had been walking through fire like it was nothing all night, and now, she fails _his family_.

_CRACK_

Kaida's head whipped to the side as Fugaku's large fist slammed into the side of her head, knocking her to the ground. She fell with another loud _crack_ as her head smacked against the hard ground bouncing as she fell. Kaida groaned as black dots filled her vision rolling to her side. She coughed up bright red blood onto the soot-covered ground.

"Where is my wife? You little-"

Kaida turned her head up in time to see Fugaku's leg coming at her. She braced herself to feel the impact since her vision was too spotty, and she was too dizzy to stop it. The blow never came, though. She blinked her eyes open to see Itachi. He had caught his father's kick and knocked his father back a few steps. She kept her eyes on Itachi's rigid back, his arms hanging at his side, fist clenched. He was angry, angrier than when they had arrived at the compound.

"Do not..." Itachi snarled, hands pulled up in a defense position, "Do not put your hands on her," Itachi seethed at his father. Hands back at his side. He glared his father down, not moving from his place in front of Kaida. His father had no right to put his hands on Kaida. She had tried to save his mother; it wasn't her fault. If his father wanted to place blame, then he should point the finger at himself, not the girl who had done so much for his clan. Sharingan met Sharingan as father and son stared each other down.

"You would fight your own father? For her!" Fugaku growled back at his eldest son, Sharingan spinning.

Itachi didn't answer; he just kept staring his father down, refusing to move. He wasn't about to let his father hurt Kaida. She was one of his best friends. She had saved Sasuke, Shisui, and Naruto. She had saved many members of his clan with her sister putting their own lives at risk. He hadn't asked her to do any of it. She just had because of him, and he knew she would because she always did. Same as he would risk his life for her or Shisui. It wasn't her fault; his mother was dead. His father gave him a cold look before turning and stalking away towards the Hokage. The fighting was over for now, so. Hopefully, they could begin to repair, wherever that started. Itachi spun around on his heels at hearing Kaida groan. He quickly knelt beside her, lifting her further off the ground.

Gently touching her jaw, Itachi brushed his thumb across the swelling discoloring flesh. Thumb coming to a stop just under her bleeding full lip, "Don't, your jaw's broken… Sasuke, Naruto stay right with us," he warned at hearing her try to speak. He turned his eyes on his shocked brother, who stood by an equally shocked Naruto. Their eyes focused on their once standing house that now lay in burning ruins. The boys turned their attention back to him when he spoke to them. He slipped his arm under her legs and his other around her back, picking her up as he stood. Kaida shot him a dirty look smacking him on the chest to get his attention as he began walking. Naruto and Sasuke following right behind him, holding on to his shirt, "You are suffering from chakra depletion, your jaw is broken, and you most likely have a concussion from how hard my father punched you, then how hard your head smacked the ground," Itachi chastised her ending any arguing as he made his way towards her sister.

"Itachi, what the hell happened?" Keina asked, standing up, rushing over from the person she was helping. The old man was fine now. He just needs rest and continued breathing treatment to finish repairing the smoke damage to his lungs, but he was out of damage from dying of any kind of smoke inhalation. She was thankful the Hokage had finally arrived, bringing more medic with him. She had twenty critical people that needed to go to the hospital, two she wasn't even sure if they'd make it to see tomorrow.

"My father hit her,"

"Your father, what?"

"Can you please heal her," he asked, letting out a tired sigh bending down to lay Kaida on the ground. Kaida shot him a dirty look sitting herself up. Itachi just rolled his eyes at her, dropping to sit beside her. He knew it bothered her when she felt like she wasn't taking care of herself. Kaida smacked his arm, earning his attention as her sister went to healing her face. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she could want. She inclined her head towards the boys.

"Naruto, Sasuke," he asked gently. The two shell shocked boys turned their wide eyes to him, "It's okay," he tried to assure them softly. He wasn't sure that it would be, but he had to try for his brother and Naruto. They need someone to be strong and tell them that they would somehow make it through this.

"Why… Why would-"

"Mom..."

"I know," was all he said as he pulled both boys to him as they both broke down into tears. He didn't turn his head when he felt a hand land on the middle of his back. He knew who it was. He was glad Kaida was there; she always was. She made him feel stronger.

"Stay still, sis," Keina whispered, holding her hand over her sister's jaw, using her chakra to knit the bone back together, but with everything going on, she couldn't afford the chakra to heal away to bruising and concussion as well. Keina sighed as she worked, thinking over the events of the day. She honestly couldn't believe a village leader had done this, committed such a horrible act. She didn't know what the village would do, but she knew they couldn't let it out. It would be a nightmare if the truth ever got out not just in the village but also politically. The village leadership would be forced to come up with some cover story for this night's events, and all of them would be sworn to secrecy.

"Keina, this one has a tension pneumothorax," a medic called, catching Keina's attention. Keina looked over to the older woman kneeled over a young boy about the same age as her.

"Listen, sis, I knit your bone back together in your jaw, but I don't have time to fix your head. Don't move; you have a pretty serious concussion," she sputtered to her sister before getting up and moving over to the medic and boy. The boy was breathing at a fast but shallow pace. She laid her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, which was way to fast, about eighty beats to fast if they didn't do something soon, he would die. "Get a large needle from the bag," Keina said, waving her hand to the bags some of the medics had brought with them. The older woman nodded. Moving to the bag, she quickly found a large gauge needle making her way back to Keina. Keina carefully inserted the needle between his ribs, low enough to miss the heart but still high enough to drain the air from his collapsed lung, putting pressure on the boy's heart. She then used the needle to guide a tube in place, taping it so that it wouldn't move. She channeled chakra to her hand, holding it over his chest, pushing her chakra into his chest, healing the damage done to his heart, and partially healing his lung. His lung would need to finish healing on its own, "Stay with him. He will need to be seen as soon as we get to the hostile," she said, before getting up and moving to check on the next person.

"Keina, we need to start getting some of these people to the hospital," a medic said, coming up to Keina as she just finished helping another medic stabilize a man with a gaping chest wound.

"I know… Ask if some of the Anbu can help us move them, and let's start getting them on stretchers,"

"Keina, how many do you expect to live?" Itachi asked, looking over the family members laid out on stretchers being carried towards the hospital by medics and Anbu. Keina turned her head to see Itachi come to a stop behind her.

Keina sighed, looking over at Itachi. She looked over his shoulder to where her sister sat with Naruto and Sasuke, patting the boy's shoulders. ' _Really Kaida,'_ their kids, not dogs. She sighed again, looking over the members sitting about on the ground—those well enough that they didn't need to be placed into the hospital. "Right now, about thirty members of your clan have survived, twenty are in critical condition… Itachi out of the twenty that are in critical condition. I only think about ten will make it to tomorrow,"

"How's Shisui?" he asked, looking around the compound. Ten of them were fine enough not to need extra medical attention, including him, his father, and his brother. They couldn't stay in the compound, not today, not with all the bodies of his dead clans' men laying around. They would need to hold a funeral soon.

"Doing fine. I had one of the Anbu take him to the hospital… I'll check on him when I get there," Keina said, noticing Itachi tense beside her. She turned her head to look where he was looking. His father was walking towards Kaida and the boys. She sighed, ' _I might just be losing that bet, Shisui,'_ she thought, looking at Itachi. "Go on, and you can't help us at the hospital… But you can over there. No telling what my sister might say now that her jaw isn't broken," Keina snorted when Itachi didn't even look back at her as he walked towards her sister and the boys. Keina shook her head, making her way over to a cot, bending down. She checked the man's vials. "Alright, let's get them to the hospital,"

Itachi reached Kaida and the boys at the same time as his father. He shot his father a hard look as he bent down on Kaida's left side, where she still sat on the ground with Naruto and Sasuke standing to her right. "You okay, boys," he asked, gently looking at his brother first, then to Naruto. The two boys looked between the Fugaku and Itachi. They had noticed the hard look the two were giving each other. The boys looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. Neither said anything, but they did nod their heads. They weren't hurt, but they were upset. Itachi shook his head, turning his eyes on Kaida. Her face looked terrible, all purple, black and blue, "Kaida?"

"I'm fine, Itachi," Kaida sighed, voice low. She placed her hand on his, which rested on his knee, squeezing his hand before letting go.

"The Hokage," Naruto whispered, poking Kaida in the shoulder, "What's he doing here?" he asked, receiving no answer from anyone. He turned his blue eyes to Sasuke, who just gave him a blank look before shrugging his shoulders. Both Kaida and Itachi turn their heads to see the Hokage and his guards walking towards them. Fugaku turned, facing the Hokage as he came close to them.

"Itachi, could you," Kaida started to ask Itachi to help her stand up since she was still too dizzy to stand on her own two feet right at this moment, but she could just sit in front of the Hokage. Itachi didn't let her finish guessing what she needed. He wrapped her arm around his waist, wrapping his arm around her as he helped her stand. Itachi tightens his grip on Kaida when she almost fell as she got to her feet. She placed a hand on his chest, pushing herself up more, making her vision swim with black dots as the ground moved like she was on a boat.

"You need to have your sister look at you… You have a concussion," Itachi whispered, partially listening to the conversation his father was having with the Hokage about the outcome of this night and how they would have to come up with a cover story to ensure peace in the village, but that the Anbu would continue their hunt for Danzo. He didn't miss his father's angry resort at what happened to their family being swept under the rug.

"I'm truly sorry, Fugaku, but if this got out, it could cause problems in the village, not to mention. Other villages could attack us, Danzo is misguided, but he truly cares for the village. We will find him, and I will deal with him for what he has done. Still, the truth of this night can never be known, so from this moment on no one will speak of this night under my order," The Hokage ordered, "I will come up with a statement to release for what has happened, do you and your surviving members have a place to stay? I will have some Anbu clean up and take the bodies to the hospital till you are ready for a funeral,"

"You all can stay at my farm," Kaida offered, looking up at Itachi, holding his gaze. Itachi gave her a small smile before turning to his father.

"That's very kind, Kaida," the Hokage nodded his head towards the girl, "Fugaku, we will have to speak later," the Hokage bowed his head before turning and walking away to speak with Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara.

"That would be very generous. We have nowhere ells to go. Father-" Itachi started only to be interrupted by his father.

"You're a little young to spend the night with your girlfriend-" Fugaku spat at his son, giving the girl his son held so tightly to his chest a vicious glare. She had let his wife die, the mother of his children. She hadn't even tried to save Mikoto. She had just stood there watching the house collapses in flames. This girl was not fit to be with an Uchiha, let alone his son. It would be over his dead body that he would let his son be with the girl who had killed his mother.

"Hey, do not be rude to him…" Kaida hissed out angrily, still leaning heavily on Itachi as the world spun. Itachi pressed his mouth in hard-line arms tightening unconsciously around Kaida bring her closer to him as she leaned into his chest more. She took a shuddering breath as her head pounded and her jaw ached with her speaking, "You have no idea what he has had to do to try and protect your ass, your whole clan… You don't speak to him that way… And… And we are just friends," she added the last part a little flustered at being called Itachi's girlfriend. No one had ever mistaken them as dating before. They were just friends.

……………..

"Itachi, what are you doing down in the cellar?" Kaida asked softly, walking up to Itachi's hunched form. She tucked strained of her hair behind her ear, light eyes running over Itachi's hunched back, _'He's going to have a sore back sitting like that,'_ she thought. She had come looking for him after her bath. It felt nice to be out of those clothes and to have on the soft shirt and shorts she now wore. She hadn't had a chance all day to change, trying to get everyone who had been able to come back to the farm settled. Then she had to get her sisters fed and talk to them about what was going on before getting all the chores for the farm done with her sisters, which Itachi had insisted he help out with. That had added some humor to their stress-filled day. They had finally found something that she beat Itachi at, much to Kaida's delight. She had teased him about only being good with cats and crows, earning a smile out of him. 

"I think I found my birthday present," he said emotionlessly, looking over his shoulder at her. She didn't have her hair up, so her long blue locks hung freely around her frame down to her hips. He thought she looked pretty with her hair hanging down.

"Yeah, well… Today is your birthday," Kaida signed, sliding a hand over his shoulder, coming to stand by his side. She felt horrible about the way things ended at the compound. The morning had started horrible, and the rest of the day had been spent in eerie silence at the farm. Except for when they had been working, the few moments of fun had broken the tense atmosphere. But they certainly hadn't lasted, and the tenseness had always returned. Now it was the middle of the night, and she was pretty sure Itachi and her were the only ones up. Itachi had lost the majority of his clan. They had only been able to save twenty-five people. Twenty-five. They had saved thirty members of the Uchiha clan, but twenty had been in critical condition when they went back early in the morning, five had died by the night. That left fifteen still in the hospital. Only time would tell if they would survive. Her sister had come home only an hour ago, utterly exhausted from working on trying to save the clan member at the hospital.

"I hate my birthday," He said, looking down at the beautiful tanto laid out on the wooden table. Its black leather handle was engraved with his clan's symbol. He knew that the weapon probably cost Kaida at least a month's pay. Kaida nodded, tears filling her eyes. She felt like she had failed her best friend the most. He had trusted her to save his brother, his mother, and his brother's friend. She had let his mother die. Sure, she had saved Sasuke and Naruto, they were sleeping soundly upstairs in the living room with Shisui, but she let Itachi's mother die.

"Itachi, I'm so sor-"

"Don't apologize to me," Itachi hissed out. He looked up as he felt Kaida jerk her hand back. He sighed, straightening up his poster. He felt his chest tighten at seeing tears in his friend's eyes. He ran a hand through his hair. Looking over her face, he felt even more anger at his father at the dark purple bruising on the right side of Kaida's face. He knew she tried. That she did her best; his mother's death wasn't Kaida's fault. He had seen the other chakra signature in the house and had been ready to run in when he saw his mother's chakra disappear while Kaida walked out, holding his brother and Naruto. He knew his mother had to have noticed Kaida didn't have enough chakra for another trip, and the house was getting ready to fall. An enemy was attacking them. An enemy he recognized all too well. ' _Why was that man there?'_ he wondered. It couldn't be coincident that the masked man kept showing up. He had no doubt his mother had engaged the enemy ninja giving Kaida enough time to walk out of the house. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, it's not your fault Kaida… Are you okay?" he asked, reaching up to run his thumb over the bruising on her jaw; the brushing went up the right side of her face discoloring her tan skin. He hated seeing her skin the sickening blue, purple, and black his father had caused it to turn.

"You're asking me," Kaida let out a breath looking into her friend's dark eyes. She could tell he was fighting back his emotions, fighting back falling apart, "Itachi, I didn't just lose-"

"My father shouldn't have put his hands on you," he said, dropping his hand down to his lap. He wasn't sure how he was feeling. He hadn't cried yet; he wasn't sure if he could. He had held his little brother while he cried for their mother, cried for their clan. His father had just sat there in the chair, staring at the wall. Fugaku hadn't moved since they had all came back to the girl's farm. All the members of his clan that were well enough, that was. Kaida had gone around helping people find futons to lay down and rest on while Keina was at the hospital taking care of those who need more medical attention. Kaida had seen to her sisters for a few hours while taking care of his brother, Naruto, and Shisui. Then he had helped her and her sister with their chores around the farm. His father had just sat in the girls living room chair, stared at the wall, and hadn't moved, and it pissed him off. His father was the head of the clan. He was supposed to be the leader, supposed to be the strong one. He was just sitting there staring, not saying or doing anything. Itachi had to deal with the Hokage, who had come to the farm to speak only a few hours ago. His father had refused to speak, leaving him to talk to the Hokage about everything that had happened. He had gotten the Hokage to give them a few days till they need to meet him again for negotiations. Itachi sighed, thinking over what the Hokage had told him. The Hokage had told Itachi how impressive he thought he was and that he thought Itachi would have an amazing career. Which wasn't something Itachi had wanted to hear at the moment. He knew he was smart, and he knew he was talented. Itachi sighed, not liking the placating talk he had. He didn't know what they would do. Part of his clan was in Kaida's house right now, taking up different rooms sleeping on extra futons they had for when their workers needed to stay over. 

"Itachi, what are you feeling?" she asked, stepping into the small space between where Itachi sat and the table laying her hands on his shoulder. She sighed, hand rubbing his shoulders, before sliding up closer to his neck. Fingers playing with his necklace, the thin chain with three metal rings. A necklace his mother had gifted him not long ago, one he never took off.

"I honestly don't know, Kaida…" Itachi started trailing off. He looked back up to her eyes.

"I…"

"I know," she said, moving close to him, wrapping her arms, his neck carding a hand through his soft hair. "I know," she wasn't going to tell him she understood. She didn't, but his pain felt like her own. Seeing him this way was crushing her heart. She wasn't going to tell him it would be okay because she didn't know if it would be. She felt him take a deep breath wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his body. She didn't comment when he buried his head in the space between her neck and shoulder. They just stayed like that holding each other, and Kaida didn't say a thing when she felt wet tears against her skin.


	9. Chapter Nine: Tensions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we are at the time skip.
> 
> Ages:  
> Shisui:22  
> Kaida, Itachi, and Keina: 19  
> Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kin, Kuma, and Kanon: 13  
> Kakashi: 28
> 
> As always, we do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters or Naruto story.

Specks of dust seemed to dance in the shaft of afternoon sunlight that slanted through the hospital window. Kaida sat on the hospital bed's end, arms crossed, covering her chest, watching the dust's specks danced in the afternoon sun's sunlight. It wasn't that long into the afternoon; the sun was high in the sky, shining brightly through the window. Kaida and her team had arrived back in the village from her Anbu team A-rank assassination mission. The mission had been to investigate a sex-trafficking ring and assassinate all members associated with the ring along with returning the young women and girls to their home village that had footed the bill.

"Hey, you are going to have a break-in your mission roster after this. I need you to talk to the girls. They have been at each other's throats lately, and I'm about to lose my mind. I think I'm going to take another mission soon just to get a break,"

"What's going on?" Kaida laughed, thinking about her three younger sisters, who could be found having various degrees of verbal spats throughout the house as of late. Their usual close relationship had been stressed since the girls had entered puberty. They argued over everything from what one of them was wearing to who cooked what for dinner.

"Oh, the usual as of late. Kin thinks Kanon is a lazy baby, and Kuma just wants Kanon to help out more. Then Kuma starts out mediating the argument between Kin and Kanon, then they all are into it… Same old same old," Keina rolled her eyes as she continued her work.

"Yeah, I'll talk to them," Kaida sighed, rolling her shoulders hissing as it pulled at some of the many deep, unhealed cuts along her back. She wanted to know what talking would do. It had yet to fix anything the past few months, but she'd try. She got to spend a lot more time out of the village than Keina, so it was only fair that she tried to help out when she was home with her sisters.

"So, the mission was a success?" Keina asked, running her chakra covered hands down her sisters bareback, healing the deep wounds crisscrossing all along her back from her upper back to her hips. The cuts were small but deep, and unfortunately, they were going to scar despite this healing session. If she had been on the mission with her sister, she could have given medical aid right away, and then Kaida wouldn't be left with a permanent reminder of whatever happened. 

"Keina," Kaida spoke, voice taking on the edge of warning it always did when Keina started to get on Kaida's nerves.

"I've got the clearance Kaida… I'm not asking for details," Keina rolled her eyes at her sister's dismissiveness with her mission, even with her sister, who just happened to be her medic and have clearance to know about said missions. Kaida likes to discuss everything else with her except her assignments. She knew the Anbu duties often bothered her sister and that her sister usually only talked about how the missions bothered her with Itachi.

"It was… But Itachi and I got into it," Kaida sighed, looking down. Her thick braid was hanging over her arms, pooling in her lap. Keina raised an eyebrow at the small frown on her sister's face. She sighed, going back, focusing so she could finish her healing. She did wonder what was going on with her sister and Itachi. They had been getting into more arguments lately, which was unlike them. They used to get along so well, but recently, it seemed like Kaida and Itachi just drove each other up a wall. ' _Not that Kaida helps with how much she antagonizes Itachi,'_ Keina thought, closing her eyes.

"I'm done... But you'll going to have scars all up and down your back. Because it's been a while since it happened, the cuts scared. You need help rewrapping your chest?" she asked, handing Kaida the bandages she would need to wrap her chest again.

"No,"

"So, what happened?" Keina asked, turning around to write in her chart as her sister finished, giving Kaida some privacy.

"Oh, pretty much the same thing as always lately… I found a faster way to complete my part of the mission. Got the information faster... It also helped us complete the mission faster, and Itachi decided to be an overprotective asshole,"

"Really!" Keina exclaimed, voice taking on a sarcastic edge because it so surprised her that Itachi acted overprotective of her sister. She shook her head. Her sister had to realize that Itachi liked her back, but she supposed denial was a strong emotion. Keina turned her head to look at her sisters, who was currently huffing as she unwound her braided hair. Kaida gave her a nasty look. "You look so threatening, sis, sitting there on the bed in your Anbu pants, shoeless, in your breast wrap with your hair still half braided," Keina snorted, thinking her sister looked more like an angry kitten right now than a dangerous Anbu. Both girls turned their heads as the door opened. They were greeted with the sight of a tense Itachi, whose face was pulled tight, mouth thinned. Shisui wasn't far behind, a stressed look on his face. 

"Hello Sweetie, how was your talk with the Hokage?" Kaida asked, voice filling with fake pleasantness. She was still mad at him for not letting her handle her part of the mission. Kaida stuck her tongue out as she locked eyes with Itachi, who just stared back at her with the same blank look he usually had on his face. Kaida rolled her eyes, swinging her legs up to cross them on the bed before stretching her arms above her head. Keina looked from the blank look on Itachi's face, catching the way his eye twitched while watching her sister, over to Shisui. She raised an eyebrow at him. Shisui just leaned against the wall giving her a wicked grin crossing his arm.

"Just watch the show," he mouthed to her, tilting his head towards Itachi and Kaida, who were still staring at each other. Kaida was now leaning back on her arms, which were placed behind her.

Itachi felt his eye twitch, watching Kaida stretch. His eyes narrowed, catching the scars on her back, clenching his hand, forcing his eyes to stay on her face. He breathed in deep through his nose before letting it out. She drove him crazy. She was ill-tempered, insubordinate, and impulsive. What she pulled during their mission could have gotten her killed. She had deliberately forgone his plan. Mission's success or not, he couldn't have her hurting herself or putting her life in danger unknowingly. He unclenched his hands, taking another breath to calm himself. He never had this much trouble with his emotions when others were concerned.

"Oh, what have I done now to deserve that famous glare of yours," Kaida hummed, stretching her legs out in front of her, almost hitting Itachi in the stomach; she needed to go through some stretches when she got home to relax her muscles.

"Put your shirt on," Itachi said calmly as he could manage. He was proud of himself when his voice came out even and steady. He needed to talk to her about what she pulled on their mission, but he couldn't speak to her with her half-dressed.

"Why are you uncomfortable, Itachi?" Kaida asked, raising a thin blue brow in challenge as she sat up, crossing her arms. She had to tilt her head up slightly as she sat up to keep eye contact with Itachi. The past five years had been kind to him, giving him a more significant height advantage. Itachi now stood a full foot taller than her tiny frame. Itachi lost a little of his iron will, watching Kaida sit up, crossing her arms. His eyes tracked down the movement catching the way it pushed up her covered breast. He breathed in through his nose, moving his eyes down her tone abdomen over her legs. She was still wearing her Anbu pants, which he had come to hate. They were tight on her and showed off her toned legs. Thanks to his Sharingan, he could picture perfectly what she looked like from the back in those tight pants. He took another deep breath. Kaida was distracting and irritating.

"It's inappropriate. Put it…" he said, reaching behind her to grab her shirt. Itachi carefully controlled his face, keeping his face completely blank as he leaned forward to grab her tank top since he had to lean close to Kaida to reach behind her to grab the item of clothing. Itachi let his eyes scan over her again quickly as he dropped the black fabric in her lap, "Put your shirt on... We need to discuss your punishment for disobeying a direct order,"

"Really?… I didn't know you were into that," Kaida said, pulling her Anbu issued tank top over her head. She had a wide grin on her face at catching Itachi looking at her again. She considered it a personal victory every time she managed to break that perfect facade he built for himself as an unemotional ninja. Kaida's grin got wider as she noticed him watching her as she pulled her shirt on again. She was succeeding a lot more often lately. Their little game had changed these past few years. She just wished she knew where he stood on their game. She heard Shisui coughing, pulling her top down all the way she leaned over to see her sister smacking the older man on the back. Kaida just snorted before turning her eyes back to Itachi, who, if she wasn't mistaking, had a slight pink tint to his cheeks that didn't go with the glare he was giving her.

"Do you have any idea how irresponsible you were on this mission-" Itachi started only to be interrupted by Kaida, whose face had morphed into a scowl.

"You are being an ass… Itachi, I'm just as smart as you. Just because you are my Captain doesn't mean you have the best plan. In fact, your plan was pretty stupid… You wouldn't even hear me out… So reasonable, aren't we… I had it handled, you asshole. I wasn't letting them-"

"You were naked from the waist up, only in your panties, and they were cutting your back to ribbons," Itachi hissed through clenched teeth glaring at her, bending down close as his red eyes locked with her blue ones. His mind flashed back to when he had found her in that room hanging by her wrist from the ceiling. Thanks to his blood limit, he could recall it in perfect detail. He wished he could just forget it,

_Itachi Mangekyō Sharingan spun as he caught the men in front of the doors in a torturous genjutsu. In the next breath, both men dropped dead silently in front of the door. He could see Kaida chakra swirling behind the door. There were three others in the room with her. Itachi took a calming breath, trying to steady the burning he felt in his blood. He used the tanto she had given him years ago to open the locked door kicking it open with enough force to slam against the wall. The men on the far wall drew a weapon, but all Itachi saw was Kaida. His teammate, one of his best friends, hanging from the ceiling by her wrist. Utterly naked from the waist up, clad only in her panties. The man they had identified as the boss was gripping her hip, holding a knife to her back. He could see blood dripping down her legs, coming from her back. The man gave him a wicked grin._

_"Well, you must be an important girl… If they send leaf Anbu after you," The man taunted, "Though I'd come for you just for this body, yeah," the boss laughed, slapping her ass. Kaida had her head bowed, grinding her teeth. She couldn't believe Itachi was running her plan. This stupid man was giving her everything, and Itachi just had to go and ruin it._

_"Get your hands off her," Itachi vision was already red, but his blood was boiling, and he could swear his vision was getting redder, seeing that filthy man put his hands on his teammate._

_Kaida looked up through her hair at the sound of Itachi's voice. She hadn't heard that tone in his voice before. His deep voice was dark, angry. Angrier than she had ever heard him. She wished for once they didn't wear a mask so she could see his whole face instead of just his eyes. She couldn't tell much from staring into the Mangekyō Sharingan._

_"No, I think I'm going to keep this pretty girl…" The boss laughed, placing a kiss on Kaida's bareback, "Boys."_

Itachi had been so angry the next thing he knew. She was down on her feet yelling at him, standing amongst his black flames. The black flams of his Amaterasu burning the room filled with bodies of dead enemies. He had been covered in their blood, and so had she. He had pulled off his shirt for her to cover herself. Leaving him in only his mesh undershirt and flank vest. They had to finish their mission, and it was going to be over his dead body that Shisui saw her like that, "You are disregarding what they could have done to you,"

"The hell I am… I had everything handled until you charged in like a macho, chauvinistic, stick in your ass-"

"You could have been killed, Kaida," Itachi stressed, dark thought rushing back to his mind of all the things that could have gone wrong. The things that could have happened to her. To his teammate, she was his friend, his responsibility. Her safety mattered to him.

"I think they forgot we are in the room again," Keina whispered to Shisui as she came to a stop beside him. She was sure that both of them had forgotten that anyone else but each other was in the room.

"Oh, please, I'm an Anbu operative. Cutting me with knives is nothing. The information I got is-" Kaida rolled her eyes, not paying any mind to the way Itachi's eye twitched at being dismissed by her so offhandedly. He had been worried, and she was dismissing him.

"If you would have followed my plan-"

"Your plan would have taken us two weeks," Kaida huffed, interrupting Itachi, "Mine took us three days," Kaida argued back. She was starting to lose her patience with Itachi and his ' _I know better Kaida attitude,'_

"Kaida..." Itachi warned, voice level but cold with suppressed anger.

"I-ta-chi!" Kaida stressed out his name, pressing a finger to the center of his chest over his heart.

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths, "We don't have our next mission till four more weeks… You're suspended from practice for one week, and your filing all the reports for the next two months,"

Shisui and Keina both turned their heads at the sound of heaving knocking at the door. Keina sighed, turning her head back to Kaida and Itachi. Both are still locked in a glaring match. She let out another sigh, "Come in,"

"Sorry to interrupt, but you're needed at the Hokage's office if you are done," A small Genin stuck their head in. The kid looked over at the other people in the room, looking entirely uncomfortably.

"Of course," Keina nodded her head. As soon as she confirmed she would quickly be on her way, the kid was gone from sight. Keina suppressed a laugh at how fast the kid left, "I'll see you guys… Kaida, make sure you go home and rest,"

"I'll make sure she does," Itachi spoke first, voice still tight. His eyes were still holding Kaida's. Kaida just grinned up at him, standing from the bed, bringing their bodies a lot closer together. Keeping her eyes locked with his, she took a step closer to him tilting her head up further to continue holding his gaze. Itachi breathed in through his nose, holding Kaida's amused look. One of these days, she was going to drive him insane.

"And just how do you plan to do that, Captain?" Kaida challenged, poking him in the chest with each word before letting her hand lay against his chest. He just glared down at the small woman. He was determined that she was going to do what her sister said and take care of herself.

Keina raised an eyebrow watching her sister and Itachi. Keina shook her head, looking to the side back at Shisui. Shisui gave her a smile wiggling his eyebrow at her as he jerked his head at Kaida and Itachi. Keina rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "Bye guys," she said, turning on her heels and making her way to the door.

……

It didn't take long for Keina to make it to the Hokage tower from the hospital. She made her way up to the room the Hokage used during the day to hand out missions and to receive payment for the completed assignment. She raised an eyebrow at hearing screaming coming from the room. ' _Is that Naruto?'_

_"I want to go on a real mission! Not this boring kid stuff! Come on, old man!"_

Yeah, that was definitely Naruto. Keina shook her head, entering the room to see Kakashi's hands in his pockets, standing there with Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto was standing in front of them, all yelling at the Hokage. Keina sweatdropped, staring at the scene in front of her. Naruto had no filter. Hopefully, he will get one soon for his good. Keina walked fully into the room, coming to a stop beside Kakashi. The older man turned his head, looking down at her.

"Keina, it's been a while," he whispered, ignoring his students in favor of greeting his favorite medic. She had changed a lot since the first time he had met her. He hadn't gotten to know her well till about a year ago when she had been assigned as his medic for his Anbu duties. They had run each to each other quite a few times over the past year since he had left Anbu. He liked the short blue-haired medic. She was funny, sweet, and took great care of her patients, nothing like her impulsive, extroverted sister.

"It has… How's teaching?"

"Well," Kakashi shrugged, tilting his head to his little minions. Both turned their attention back to what was going on around them to see Iruka's face go red.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Iruka yelled, standing up, hand slamming onto the table in front of him as he stood. "You're a brand new genin with no experience, so you start with small missions like everyone else!"

"WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS-"

Keina lifted her hand to her head as Naruto started yelling again. Kakashi sighed, cutting off Naruto's ranting shouts with a knock to the head. "Will you put a lid on it?" he asked calmly, looking down at the blonde lying on the floor from the blow to his head.

"Naruto!" The Hokage addressed the blonde, still sitting on the floor, rubbing his head. "It seems you don't understand…"

Keina sighed, tuning out the long-winded explanation of how missions were handed out to ninja. She turned her attention down to Naruto, who was still sitting on the floor, rambling about ramen that he had yesterday while the others listened. Kakashi turned to give Keina what she assumed was an exasperated look before turning his attention back to his students. At some point, the Hokage stopped speaking, noticing that absolutely no one was paying attention to a word he was saying.

"Silence!"

Kakashi looked to Keina first before turning back to the Hokage rubbing his neck sheepishly, "Heh… Sorry,"

"Ah! You're always lecturing me like you're my grandfather or something! Well, I'm not that little kid that pulled pranks anymore! I'm a ninja, and I want a ninja mission! Humph," Naruto huffed, spinning around, he crossed his arms and pouted. Keina sweatdropped, watching Naruto's display. ' _Not a kid… he looks like he is four,'_ she thought, ' _Maybe I can get Kaida to talk to him...'_ Keina was sure Kaida could get Naruto to understand that his behavior was inappropriate; well, at least she had the best chance. Naruto's little crush on Kaida was pretty cute. She was sure that if anyone could get Naruto to act his age, it was probably Kaida. Kakashi just signed, putting his hands back in his pockets, 'I'm _going to hear about this later,'_

Lord Hokage began to snicker at Naruto's display, "Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat. He's a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it," The Hokage inclined his head, hiding his smile at hearing the gasping sound from the female on Kakashi's team, "Since you are so determined, I will give you a C rank mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey,"

"Really? Yes!" Naruto shouted, jumping up, throwing one fist up into the air, "Who are we guarding? A princess? Or some big wig councilor?" Naruto finished speaking fast in his excitement.

"Well, now you will be escorting our medic Keina here and-"

"And who… Who else," Naruto asked, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement.

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring them in now. Send in our visitor!" The Hokage called. The sound of the door sliding open reached their ears, and the smell of sake hit everyone's nose as the door opened. Keina let out a sigh looking at the man who had hired them. He was drunk, still holding a half bottle of sake. She tried her best to keep the disgusted look off her face, knowing it was unprofessional. But it was hard to push back the personal feelings she had about drunks.

"Where's the medic I paid for?" he slurred, looking over the kids, to the tall white-haired man, to the blue-haired girl that looked to be in her late teens.

"Yes, this is Keina. She is one of the most skilled jounin medic ninjas we have in our village," The Hokage said, praising clearly in his voice for the young medical prodigy. Keina forced a smile to her face waving at the man, "And next to her is Kakashi and his Genin team. They will be your bodyguards,"

"What the-? A bunch of snot-nosed kids?" The man demanded. "And you, the small one with the idiotic look on your face, you honestly expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Keina narrowed her eyes at the man's insult towered Naruto. If this was going to be his attitude for the whole mission, then this would be one extended mission.

Naruto threw his head back, laughing loudly, "Who's the small one with the idiotic look on his - huh?" Naruto asked, looking from Sasuke to Sakura. Sasuke and Sakura gave the boy unamused looks as Sasuke and Sakura stepped up beside Naruto, showing him that he was, in fact, the shortest out of the three of them. Naruto gave an irritated look before charging towards the man, "I'll demolish you!" he yelled.

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto. It doesn't work that way," He said in exasperation, ignoring Naruto's continued ranting. Keina sighed, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling may be. Spending the next month locked in with her young sisters would be more relaxing. She turned her eyes back to the man at hearing him gulping down the sake.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely even if it costs you or life,"

_'Well, aren't we a nice man.'_

…….

Kaida crossed her arms hip cocked out to the side as she put most of her weight on her left leg. Kaida staired her younger sisters down as they all turned and immediately started trying to talk over each other to explain why she walked into food on the ceiling and screams filling her house. Her eyes twitched as they all moved closer to her, trying to convince her which one of them started the fight. Pinching the bridge of her nose as their voices got louder, she took a deep breath, "I don't care who started it… I'm ending it," Kaida yelled, interrupting her sister's argument about just who it was that was responsible for the fight she and Itachi had walked into, "Now all three of you shut the hell up... And go sit down," Kaida huffed, turning her head back to look at Itachi, who was leaning against the kitchen wall—ignoring her sister's pouting as they sulked into the living room.

"And just what do you think is so funny?"

"They're as scared of you as Sasuke and I were off our mother," he chuckled, locking eyes with his fiery teammate. She had calmed down entirely on their walk to her home, and upon walking in and hearing the screaming coming from the kitchen, the fire had filled her eyes again.

"So, glad my family drama amuses you, Sweetie," Kaida huffed with a roll of her eyes before stalking off to yell at her sister some more. Itachi stayed in his place, watching as she walked away. His eyes tracked her hips' sway. He could enjoy watching her walk away when he was alone, with no one to notice he was watching. Itachi pushed off the wall a few minutes later, following Kaida into her living room. He leaned against the wall at the living room entrance to watch Kaida deal with her sisters. The young preteens were seated on the couch, staring up at Kaida, who stood in front of them, hands on her hips.

"Now, do you want to tell me just what all that screaming was about… Calmly!" Kaida stressed, holding up a hand. She didn't want to hear anymore, desperate screaming. She raised an eyebrow at her sisters as Kanon set picking at her nails, Kuma readjusted her ponytail, and Kin fidgeted with a kunai. Kaida turned to give Itachi an exasperated look, "Girls, someone talk… NOW!"

"Kanon won't help me around the farm or house with anything… Kin helps with what she can, but she's busy now with ninja training… I try to do as much as I can... I know how busy you and Keina are, and … And you guys do so much already… I just need help," Kuma strutted through, explaining her frustration to her elder sister, who was glaring at them.

"Yeah, she never helps us with anything, unless it's cooking, and then she leaves a huge mess. She wears our clothes and doesn't wash anything," Kin fumed.

"Yeah, will these assholes talk to me like I'm a child-" Kanon rolled her eyes with her complaint.

"Kanon, you act like you are still five… If you didn't do that, we wouldn't-" Kuma responded before being cut off by Kanon's livid yelling.

"Go to hell, Kuma!"

"And leave my dear baby sister here all alone!" Kuma sneered her hand to her heart. Kaida stopped mid-sentence, blinking at Kuma slowly. She couldn't believe those words had just come out of Kuma's mouth. Sweet, innocent Kuma, who tried to keep everyone from fighting. Had just said something so sarcastic that it had sounded like something that would come out of her or Kin's mouth. 

"You're just-" Kanon started, only to be interrupted by Kin's loud voice cutting off her snap back to her sister's snarky remark.

"Don't even start, Kanon… You're-"

"Shut the HELL UP," Kaida thundered, voice raising higher on the last part. "Now listen… I don't give two shits if you all disagree or whatever, but we are family. We all have to live under this roof, and we are responsible for taking care of not only each other, but we have to keep mom's farm going too… She loved this place… Keina and I work our asses off to bring money home from our jobs. Kin is just starting as a ninja, Kuma you're stepping up with helping us run the farm. Kanon, you do need to do more around the house and the farm. We never ask much out of you. Listen, girl, you don't have to get along, but you have to work together. Now, Kanon, you have chores that you will help Kuma do, and if I come back home to this, you three are going to come train with me…"

"No… We'll be good, Nee-san," Kanon promised, hands over her heart. The last thing on earth she wanted was to be out in the woods with her elder sister being forced to ' _train'_ with Kaida; that was just cruel and unusual punishment.

"Yes, we will behave, Nee-san," Kuma promised. She truly hated fighting and abhorred her sister's idea of bonding or ' _cruel punishment for pissing her off.'_

"Yeah, no more fighting Nee-san," Kin nodded her head in agreement, she highly doubted they never get in a fight again, but she'd be sure that Kaida didn't catch them. She never wanted to train with Kaida ever again. Once was enough, and she had thought her sister was going to kill her. Her sister took training way too seriously; she just rather tarin with Keina and not end up in the hospital.

"Okay… Kin, you need to leave for your mission, or you are going to be late to meet your team, aren't you?" Kaida asked her sister. Keina had mentioned that Kin was leaving for her mission today around this time. Kin swore, jumping from the couch before rushing up the stairs to grab her bag. Kaida sighed, shaking her head as her sister came running back down the stairs. "Be careful," she called as Kin rushed out the door.

"So, we need to get going on those chores," Kuma said, looking from her older sister to the man still standing quietly, leaning up against the wall. She was wondering why Itachi had just stood there watching her sister fuss at them for half an hour. Kuma stood, pulling Kanon with her. She wondered if Kanon had caught the looks her sister and Itachi kept throwing at each other. Then again, Kanon probably hadn't been paying attention. 

"Kuma," Kaida called, catching her sister before she moved out of the living room. "Kin won't be home tonight. She won't be home till her mission is done… You and Kanon will be too tired to cook by the time you get home, and so will Keina, and I can't cook at all. So, can you and Kanon head into the village and get some dinner for us," Kuma just nodded before heading out to work on the farm for the day with her sister.

"What, Itachi?" Kaida asked, voice full of exhaustion as she dropped to sit on the couch in their living room. She didn't like how Itachi looked at her with that soft look in his eyes; it made her uncomfortable. Itachi gave Kaida a small smile. He thought Kaida was a good big sister. She cared a lot about her little sisters, took care of them the best she could. Kaida let out a hiss rubbing at her back; all her muscles were still in knots. Itachi's eyes narrowed at watching Kaida try to rub out the knots in her back. He knew her back had to be killing her from how long she had hung from her wrist while she had been held prisoner. Being strung up by your wrist will put a lot of stress on your back.

"I didn't say anything," Itachi responded, moving across the room to sit behind Kaida. He placed his hands on her sides, "Turn. I'll rub your back… You won't be moving tomorrow if we don't get those knots out," Kaida sighed, pulling her legs up on the couch, turning so her back fully faced Itachi. Itachi moved his hands up to her shoulders when she settled back on the sofa. He pushed her hair over her shoulder out of the way and started to massage her neck, "I don't like the way you handled this mission."

"Your plan would have taken us weeks, Itachi… What could have happened to those women and girls at that time? Some of those girls and my little sister's age," Kaida answered, letting out a small moan at the pleasant feeling in her back, muscles relaxing under Itachi's touch.

"You put your life in danger… Do you know what they could have done to you…? You let them drug you, Kaida... We couldn't use comms," Itachi spoke softly, trying to keep his voice steady as he continued to massage her shoulders and down her back slowly. He had been scared when he had seen them dragging her unconscious body away, knowing he couldn't interfere. All they could do was follow. He and Shisui had followed the men who took her to the compound. He had been ready to charge in and rescue her. Damn the mission. Shisui had calmed him down. Reminded him that Kaida could very well take care of herself and had likely planned what was happening. But it had driven him crazy, not knowing what was happening to her.

"I'm sorry… Itachi… The plan was getting us nowhere…" she sighed, laying her head back on Itachi's chest as his hands moved down her back, rubbing out knots. It felt terrific. Itachi was great with his hands, "Itachi, I didn't stop to think about how it would make you feel not knowing what was happening while I was in the compound… But I thought you trusted my abilities,"

"I do trust you, Kaida…" Itachi started looking down at her resting her head on his chest as he rubbed her back. He could see her long eyelashes from this angle. She had her eyes closed. He loved it when he could watch her emotions play out on her face, watch her pull her lip into her mouth. The same way she always did when he brought up something she didn't want to talk about or something that he disagreed with. "But we had no way of knowing what was going on in there with you… And then the men came out-" Itachi's voice cut off as he remembered the vulgar things the men had come out of the compound saying.

_Itachi and Shisui were hiding in the trees, watching the compound. Both had their Sharingan activated. Eyes were scanning for Kaida's chakra signature. "Found her," Itachi whispered lowly. Seeing her steady chakra did help him relax a bit, but he still couldn't see what was happening in that room. He could see, however, that she wasn't alone. Both turned their eyes as two men exited the compound._

_"Man, the new girl they brought in is hot," the first man spoke, stepping out of the compound's entrance. "Such a nice little body, I mean, did you see her when they took her clothes off? She's only in her panties… I don't think I've ever seen a body like that,"_

_"Nineteen is a great age, such as tight bodies, these young ninja girls have… I can't wait till the boss is done with her, and I can have a go at her," the other one laughed._

_"Me either… Get her so hopped up on our drugs and their think they are make's love to someone they want, so much better than having them fight you,"_

_"Yeah, well, we will have you see how much she can take when the boss is done breaking her in," the first one laughed._

"Itachi," Kaida called when she felt Itachi's hands tenses as they paused in their rubbing movement against her back. She turned her head to the side slightly to get a better look at his face. From where she rested, leaning against him, she could see the side of his face. Itachi was a master at masking his emotions, and he had only gotten better over the past few years. But she knew what to look for in his expression. Like now, she notices the small tightening of his jaw, the slight narrowing of his eyes. "I had everything handled… Their leader was giving me everything,"

Itachi cut his eyes back to her and went back to massaging her lower back. Kaida sighed, letting her eyes slip closed, "It didn't look like you had everything handled… When I came in you-"

"Where bleeding, yeah, that was part of letting him think he had the upper hand. We've discussed this, Itachi. You didn't let me finish my part of the mission because you got scared," Kaida interrupted. She knew he cared about her, and she knew he cared about her more than a friend. Hell, she was a genius too. But she was honestly scared to go past the line they had been toeing for the past few years. Though she supposes if this mission proved anything, it was that things were getting worse, they were going to have to work something out.

"You going to tell me what I'm feeling, Kaida?"

"Are you going to deny it?"

Itachi sighed, letting his hands fall to his lap. Kaida grinned. Sitting up, she turned to face Itachi. Itachi, in turn, gave her a smile at the bright grin on her face. How could he not? Her joy was infectious. Even when she was joyous over driving him crazy, "I get it your overprotective it's part of who you are, but I can take care of myself,"

"I'm sorry, I made you feel like I didn't trust you,"

"I'm sorry I scared you," Kaida smiled at him before leaning in to wrap her arms around him. She buried her head in the space between his shoulder and neck when he wrapped his arms around her back, "So do I still have..." she asked after pulling away.

"You disobeyed a direct order, Kaida… Yes, your punishment still stands," Itachi gave her a small grin, letting out a laugh when her face fell a little. He knew there was nothing she hated more than doing paperwork and being kept from training.

"I'm home,"

They both turned their heads to see Keina walk into the living room. Keina grinned at her sister and Itachi. They had made up, not that she didn't think they would. It wasn't like their arguments ever lasted long.

"So, what happened with the Hokage?" Kaida asked, turning again on the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest, she leaned into Itachi's side. Itachi just glanced at her and rested his head against the back of the couch.

"I'm going on a mission to the land of waves with Kakashi's team,"

"Why is my little brother being sent to the land of waves?" Itachi asked. It wasn't typical for young ninjas now.

"They are acting as bodyguards for the bridge builder and me… I was hired to give medical attention to some of the people there, and they were hired to make sure the bridge builder makes it back to his county… Its C rank,"

"Itachi, relax, it's just a C rank mission… The likelihood of them running into enemy ninja is extremely slim. Besides, they will have two jounin with them," Kaida tried to reassure her worrywart of a captain. She thought it was sweet how much he worried about his little brother.

"I'm going to head home and talk to him," Itachi sighed, getting up, "I'll see you tomorrow Kaida,"

"See you," Kaida waved as Itachi made his way out of their house.

Keina sighed, dropping down into Itachi's place as she heard the door shut. "I passed Kuma and Kanon in the market,"

"They are getting dinner. I screamed at them for you," Kaida laid her head on her sister's shoulder, resting.

"I'm sure the good behavior will last all of a week before they are back at it. Good thing I'm on a mission," Keina laughed, "Hey, when are you going to tell Itachi that you're into him?"

"I'm not… It could ruin our friendship,"

"Seriously, sis, you two are practically married," Keina snorted, flicking her sister on the head.

"Very funny, sis," Kaida rolled her eyes smacking her sister's arm.

"I think it is… Anyways you are on your own with Kuma and Kanon for dinner… I'm meeting Kakashi to discuss our mission," Keina said, getting up.

…..

Keina was trying to hold in a laugh standing next to Kakashi. They were all watching Naruto stand just outside the village gates looking from side to side.

"Yeah! All right," He yelled, throwing his fist into the air.

"What are you getting so excited about?" Keina turned her head, looking at the small pink hair student Kakashi had. Sakura, Keina sighed at the tone of the girl's voice. She and Kakashi had talked about the mission the night before he had mentioned that his students were having trouble getting along. Naruto and Sasuke were always fighting and competing with each other, which she knew. Sasuke had developed a lousy superiority complex over the years. But he had also mentioned that Sakura treated Naruto poorly.

"This is the first time I have ever left the village. I'm a traveler now, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm I really supposed to trust my life to this runt,"

"He's with me, and I'm a Jounin, plus Keina here is also a Jounin and skilled medic… You don't need to worry," Kakashi reassured the man in a bored tone.

Keina rolled her eyes at the rude tone of the older man. She turns her head back to look at Sasuke and Sakura when she hears them talking to someone behind her. "Kaida, Itachi," Keina grinned at seeing how close they stood together, and they wondered why some people thought they were dating at times.

"Hey, old man, never insult a ninja. It's a big mistake… And I'm one of the best ninjas ever. One day I'm going to be Hokage. My name's Naruto- Kaida," Naruto cut off, insulting the old man by running up and throwing his arms around the blue-hair girl standing next to Itachi. Naruto slammed into her with so much force Itachi placed a hand on her back to steady her. Keina almost laughed at the dirty looks. Sasuke kept shooting Kaida as he talked to his older brother, especially when Itachi placed his hand on Kaida's back. "Hey, Kaida, I'm going on a real mission… I'm a bodyguard,"

"Hey, Naruto," Kaida laughed, hugging the boy back, "I know you'll do great… We came to see you guys off,"

"Thank, sis," Keina grinned at her sister.

"Have a safe mission," Itachi said, nodding to his brother and then Kakashi. Kakashi nodded back. He knew Itachi expected him to protect his little brother, and honestly, he might be older than the tall Uchiha prodigy, but he didn't want to go toe a toe with the man. Itachi might be a pacifist at heart, but he was pretty sure Itachi would be angry enough to fight if he let something happen to Sasuke.

"Same see you guys when you get back," Kaida offered with a wave when Naruto let her go walking back past the gates.


	10. Chapter Ten: New Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, we don't own any of the Naruto characters or storylines.
> 
> The next chapter will see us back with Kakashi and Kenia.

The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. The sun was just starting to peak in the sky; golden rays brightening the shadows below the thick forest canopy. Kuma and Kanon were walking quickly through the forest, making their way towards the Uchiha compound.

"If Kaida finds out about this, she's going to kill us…" Kanon hissed nervously as she followed her sister through the forest. She was keeping her voice low as if her eldest sister could hear her from Anbu headquarters. "She already told us to leave it alone. That'd she'd be fine," she sighed, rubbing her arms against the chill of the morning air. She should have listened to Kuma and grabbed her jacket before they left.

"Something is seriously wrong with Nee-san… She woke up screaming again, Kanon. She has barely slept in six days, I don't know what happened on their mission, and you know she won't talk to us, but Something is wrong… When have you ever heard her sound scared? Itachi cares about our sister... If we tell him, maybe he can fix it," Kuma didn't bother to look back at her sister, pushing her short pink locks out of her eyes. Kuma let out a sigh rubbing her arms over her thin sweater; it was just now the beginning of fall. She knew Kaida would be mad, but that was okay with her if Itachi helped her sister. She didn't know what was wrong with her sister, but she knew Something was wrong. She had found her sister up at all hours of the night, and she had heard Kaida's scream more than once the past few nights. She just didn't buy Kaida's excuses.

"She's going to be angry..." Kanon stressed, quickening her pace to catch up with Kuma as she saw the Uchiha compound wall come into view. She thought this was a bad idea. Kanon wasn't sure exactly what kind of relationship her sister had with Itachi, but she didn't think her sister would be happy with them telling Something she hadn't told him. Kaida would talk when she wanted to; forcing her to speak usually ended badly.

"They don't get angry at each other," Kuma answered, glancing at her sister ' _Kanon has to change when we get back'_ she thought, glancing over her sister. Kanon was in a long sleeveless dress with her long hair hanging freely. Kuma sighed; Kanon's hair might not be as long as Kaida's and Keina, but she certainly couldn't help her out on the farm with it down.

"I bet we just don't see them," Kanon snorted, highly doubting that Itachi and her elder sister never disagreed. The girls quickly made their way past the compound gates, walking closely together, they waved at a few of their customers as they walked down the street, moving as quickly as possible. They knew Itachi left early, like Kaida did, both having work to do at headquarters. Their sister had left extra early this morning, telling them she might be late since she had quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on.

"Kuma… Kanon, what are you doing here?" Itachi asked from his porch staring at Kaida's two youngest sisters making their way towards him. He had just left his home only to step out on his porch finding his teammate's sisters. Kaida usually didn't like her sisters wandering around the forest, which was the only way for them to get to the compound.

"Itachi, we have to talk to you about Kaida!" Kuma raised her voice, tuning; she grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her sister towards Itachi with hurried steps. Itachi raised an eyebrow as the girl's heads snapped up as he called their names. He strolled, meeting the girls at the bottom of the stairs. He had just seen Kaida the other night; she seemed tired but fine.

"Is she alright?" He asked, glancing down at the two pink harried girls staring up at him.

"Kumathinksyouneedtotalkherabouthernotsleeping," Kanon spoke in a rush without taking a breath, twisting her arms behind her back, as Itachi turned dark eyes on her.

"Excuse me?" Itachi asked, blinking at the two girls. He wasn't entirely sure what they were tiring to tell him, but now he was sure he should be worried about Kaida. Something was going on that was worrying her younger sister, and if it was enough, she wasn't able to hide it from her younger sister's. Then it was Something he needed to check on. The girls both took a deep breath cutting their eyes at each other before looking back up at Itachi.

Kuma curled her arm around Kanon's, looking around them. Finding the area mostly empty, she took a calming breath, "Kaida isn't sleeping… We heard her screaming last night in her sleep,"

"What happened on that mission… You promised you'd take care of our big sister," Kanon huffed out, looking up at Itachi. She had to admit Kuma was right, Something was wrong with her sister, and it happened after returning from the mission with Itachi. Itachi had promised them after their mother died, he wouldn't let anything happen to Kaida. The girls looked at each other at the blank look on Itachi's face. The man just stared calmly at them, listening as they continued telling him how strange their sister had been acting these past few days. Itachi turned his head at the sound of his front door, sliding open to see his father walk out with Shisui behind him. Fugaku stepped out to see his eldest son talking to that woman's little sisters. Shisui raised an eyebrow at Itachi when he saw Kuma and Kanon standing in front of him.

Turning to look back at the two young girls standing in front of him, Itachi suppressed a sigh. He had noticed Kaida seemed tired, but he hadn't asked her about it. He should have; he hadn't noticed. Something was bothering her. She appeared completely happy every time he saw her, "Shisui, would you care to walk Kuma and Kanon back to their farm?" Itachi asked his cousin.

"Yeah…" Shisui nodded, clapping Fugaku on the back as he moved towards Itachi and the girls.

Itachi turned his attention back to Kaida's sisters, "I'll speak to Kaida as soon as I get to my office," He promised with a nod of his head.

Shisui grinned, throwing his arms around the girl, "So girls, have we eaten breakfast yet?"

Kanon threw him a dirty look before rolling her eyes, "No… Kuma wouldn't let us eat before talking to Itachi-san,"

"Wonderful… When we get back to your farm, you girls cook, and I'll help you out with some chores. I've got some time till I have to be at work," he said with a wink. Itachi rolled his eyes at Shisui's antics, trying to get the two girls to cook him some breakfast. He watched as Shisui laughed at the irritated look on Kanon's face turning the girls around as they started to walk off.

"Itachi-san," Kuma yelled, catching his attention as she turned from Shisui's grasp, "My sister didn't eat anything this morning," she added before turning and staring back out of the compound with Shisui.

"What did they want?" His father asked gruffly, arms crossed, coming to a stop beside his son.

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes, "They thought they would just stop and see if we wanted any more of their herbs or vegetables,"

"Hmph… Will you be home for dinner?"

"I have a lot of work at headquarters and training," Itachi answered with a bow of his head before turning and walking away from his father. His father might have a better view of the village now. Since the Hokage had allowed Uchiha into more roles as ninja, there were even a few in the Anbu with him beside Shisui. It also helped to have other ninja and civilian staffing the police forces. However, his father's superiority complex had gotten worse to the point that he didn't think much of non-Uchiha and that had rubbed off on Sasuke despite his best efforts.

Itachi made his way through the streets of Konoha. Enjoying his walk to work even in the early morning, the shops were preparing for the day, some of them even busy. They were filled with ninja getting food before going off to their duties. He enjoyed being off primary Anbu duties since he could just wear regular ninja clothes. Sure, he still had to make his way to headquarters carefully; they had to keep the number of people who knew they were in Anbu to a minimum, which was why headquarters had such a secretive entrance. Itachi sighed, glancing at the sky; the sun was a little higher in the sky than when he left. Still early morning, but it was later than he had wanted to arrive, but that couldn't be helped. He had to make a stop at his favorite cafe.

Itachi made his way through the halls of headquarters, bowing his head at peers as he passed. He made his way silently down the Captain's hall to his office. Itachi made his way down to the end of the hall stopping at the door to his office. With a sigh, he opened the door strolling in, letting it close behind him. Itachi tilted his head down, hiding a small smile at finding Kaida in his office chair. Legs bent up under her, and head bowed over his desk, filling out paperwork. Her long blue hair was free from the usual braid she kept it, and the long strain was strewn around his desk, hanging in a halo around her. His desk was in complete disarray, the paper's scattered everywhere instead of in the neat stacks he preferred them in. Itachi glanced around his office, finding her bag thrown at the foot of his black sofa and her red jacket thrown across the back of the sofa. Itachi let out a sigh at also seeing her ninja boots in front of the door leading to his private shower.

"You're making a mess of my office,"

Kaida looked up at the sound of Itachi's deep baritone voice. She had noticed his chakra signature when he entered the office but was too focused on her reading to bother to greet him. She flashed the man, a bright smile. It was nice seeing him dressed in Something besides their Anbu gear for once. Itachi stood in front of his desk clad in black ninja pants, a black ninja shirt with the Uchiha crest on its back. His long black locks that she knew were soft were pulled into a low ponytail. "Good morning, Sweetie,"

Itachi shook his head, a slight smile on his lips as he sat a bag in front of her with a steaming cup. "Your sisters came to see me this morning," He sighed, cutting straight to the point.

Kaida raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue. He gestured for her to look in the bag. "They said you left without eating… You should know better than that. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You shouldn't be skipping it,"

"Really, and what else did my dear, darlings say?" Kaida asked, moving to hop up on the side of Itachi's desk so he could sit in his chair. She was grinning wide when she opened the bag to find her favorite breakfast.

Itachi chuckled, watching as Kaida hopped from his chair to sit on top of his desk. ' _Like that's a better place for her to sit,'_ Itachi sighed, noticing that Kaida wasn't wearing her usual tight black pants. No, today she had on an almost skin-tight black skirt. Itachi snapped his eyes back up to her face, sitting in his chair as Kaida snatched the breakfast he had brought her and the steaming cup of coffee. Itachi gripped the arms of his chair when Kaida moaned as she took a bite out of the pasty; he had gotten her washing it down with her coffee. ' _Why does she have to make those noises,'_ lately, every time she made noises like that, his body responded in the most irritating ways. He wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what was wrong with him. It was Kaida; she was filling up his thoughts in the best and worst ways. He shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts about his best friend. He shouldn't be thinking about replacing that pasty with his lips. He shouldn't wake up covered in sweat, needing a cold shower after dreaming of her. The noises coming from her right now weren't helping.

"Oh, gosh, it's so good… Hmm, the coffee is perfect," Kaida moaned, utterly oblivious to Itachi's inner turmoil, taking another bite crossing her legs, causing her tight black skirt to rise higher. She took another sip of her coffee. Enjoying the sweet yet spicy tang of the hot beverage, "Thank you, Sweetie,"

 _'God hates me,'_ Itachi thought, eyes watching how the black fabric was riding up her tone tan legs. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he moved his eyes up her body. Her skirt researched up to her waist. From there, her stomach was bare except for the mesh metal fabric that was tucked into the skirt. She was wearing her usual ninja shirt, a sleeveless red crop top that ended a little below her breast. Her beautiful long light blue hair hung down her back and onto his desk, ' _God hates me,'_ Itachi startled when he felt a small barefoot press into his chest. He looked down to see Kaida's leg stretched out, her foot pressing into the center of his chest.

"Itachi… Anyone there?" She asked, pressing her toes a little more forcefully into his chest.

"Yes, Kiada?" Itachi responded, voice flat, hand wrapping around her dainty ankle, pulling her foot away from his chest.

"What did my sisters tell you?" She asked again with a roll of her eyes, crossing her legs once again.

"That you haven't been sleeping… That you are waking up screaming in the night," Itachi stated, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms across his broad chest, waiting for her to talk.

Kaida raised a thin blue brow at him, leaning back on one arm as she sipped her coffee. Her little sisters should know better than to go tattle to Itachi about her not sleeping. _'I'll have to have a long talk with them,'_ she thought, balancing her coffee on her shoulder. She hadn't wanted her dear Captain to know about these dreams because he would try to fix it, and he already had too much on his plate as it was. She thought it was stupid the way he considered any problem she had, his problem as well.

"Kaida… Talk."

Itachi's deep voice startled her out of her musing. She turned her head back to him to see him leaning towards her now elbows on either armrest. "I… It's not about the mission Itachi,"

"I know… you're a professional. You can handle what happened," Itachi replied, voice toneless as he tried to avoid mentioning what happened to her on their mission. Itachi sighed. It still bothered him that she had let herself be kidnapped. That, someone, had put their hands on her, had hurt her in any way. It made him angry, so angry that he had to push it all down.

Kaida sighed, watching Itachi push his feelings down, watching him try to hide behind his famous infallible mask. ' _Tch, so unhealthy… Acting like you don't feel anything,'_ she thought, watching Itachi go through his little motions of pushing everything down. "I know what happened upset y-"

"We aren't talking about me…" Itachi interrupted; he wasn't about to let her turn this conversation around, "What are you dreaming about… Is it those dreams again?" Itachi asked, wondering if it's the dreams she would come to him about from time to time when she had them. The dreams she believed were from a past life. He had to admit the idea was an interesting one, one he had helped her research. Her dreams were extremely detailed, but they were also disjointed and only showed short flashes at times.

"Yeah," she sighed, looking down at her lap.

Itachi signed, standing up, "Kaida… You aren't sleeping, and they are making you scream," Itachi said, moving to stand in front of her. He was worried about her because he knew how strong she was. There wasn't much that could scare Kiada, which worried him that this dream was scaring her. That she felt like she couldn't come to him bothered him even more. "Kaida," he called again, gently this time hands coming up to slide under her chin when she won't raise her eyes to look at him.

Kaida's heart raced as he stepped in front of her, pushing her long hair out of her face. She shifted her weight, pulling her leg out from under her as he moved closer, bumping his thighs against her knees.

"Kaida… Why didn't you tell me this had been going on?" Itachi asked, continuing to brush long blue bangs from her face without her headband on. Her long hair was hiding her eyes from him. He sighed at feeling her hot skin against his hand from this close. He could feel the heat of her body. Kaida was always so warm, but her skin was smooth, smoother than you would think for a ninja, like the steel of his tanto.

"You have a lot to deal with right now, Itachi," she sighed, leaning into the hand holding her cheek. Itachi had been so busy since they had gotten back. He hadn't been leaving his office until very late at night, between doing paperwork with her, attending meetings, and attending training sessions. "I just didn't want to bother you," Kaida breathed out, running her thumb up and down the inside of his wrist she held.

"Don't ever think you are bothering me," he answered before pulling her into his chest, wrapping his lean muscular arms around her back, tangling a hand in her hair.

Kaida sighed, burying her nose in the muscled area between his neck and shoulder. Kaida took a deep breath, breathing in Itachi's smoky masculine scent. It always made her feel so calm, that unique smell that only he had. He still smelled like fire and the forest. She smiled; it was Something she found a little addicting as of late. Keeping her arms around his neck, she slid off his desk. Itachi wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, picking her up off his desk, bring her body flush against his body. Kaida grinned, pulling her head back just enough to look him in the eyes, feet dangling against his shins as he held her. "Thank you, Itachi," she laughed, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Itachi sighed at the feeling of her soft full lips against him. He wondered if Kaida could feel his heart racing in his chest against her. She brought out a side he didn't think he had, made him feel things he never thought of feeling. He wasn't sure what exactly it was he felt for her. He knew he liked her. She was one of his best friends, but he was feeling things you didn't feel for a friend. Like the way she made him feel when she smiled at him when she teased him and called him sweetie, he'd never admit he liked it, the way he felt when he touched her. But was it real? Or was it just hormones? He needed to make sure.

"Are you going to put me down?" Kaida snickered, raising an eyebrow at Itachi as she pulled back again. ' _He could at least loosen his grip,'_ she thought. His arms might feel nice around her, but they were so tight his forearms were putting a lot of pressure on her back right now. "We aren't going to get a whole hell of a lot of work done like this… Not that I'm not enjoying it-"

Itachi rolled his eyes, dropping Kaida, interrupting her teasing sentence. Earning him a smack to the chest. "Okay… What have you done,"

**…..**

Itachi regretted not staying and talking more to Kaida. She was still shaken when he left, the way she wrung her hands together in such a fidgety way. The way she curled up in his chair. He should have just canceled his plans and tried to get her to talk to him. But then again, he could have talked to Kaida, could have begged her to talk to him about her dream till he was blue in the face. She wasn't going to speak till she was ready. Whatever was going on, it was enough to scare her, to shake her thoroughly. That worried him; Kaida was strong. She was so strong. He honestly thought she was stronger than him when it came to dealing with emotions. Kaida dealt with it; she talked about it. She wasn't one to push it down, not as he did. It was hurting him, seeing her try and push this down. That was Something he would do, not her. She always talked eventually. He had meant what he told her; she should know that by now. She could tell him anything, anytime. He would always be there for her.

Itachi sighed, looking up to the sky. He just hoped she would talk to him soon. He couldn't help his mind drifting back to how it felt to hug her. He had held her so many times before, and it hadn't felt like that. Only recently had touching felt so much more electrifying, so… so much like using his fire jutsu. He knew the feelings he was having for his treatment were a product of his hormones. Feelings that were just getting more intense as time passed. He had thought he would experience this sooner than nineteen. Hell, he was almost twenty. But, here he was. He just wasn't sure if that was all it was. He thought about Kaida all the time, he liked her, loved spending time with her, but he also loved spending time with Izumi. Both girls were his friend. His father had talked to him just this morning about dating, telling him that he was an adult that he should start dating and deciding who he wanted to marry. Kaida and Izumi were the only girls he enjoyed spending his time with. However, he didn't feel the same intense feeling when Izumi touched him as when Kaida did.

"Hey, are you even listening to me, Itachi?" the high-pitched voice broke his thoughts.

Itachi blinked, turning his eyes from the sky, looking down at the dark-haired woman walking beside him. Izumi was walking, well, more like bouncing beside him. Her dark brown eyes caught his as she turned, walking backward. "You should watch where you're going,"

"Sure," She smiled, sticking her tongue out at him. "Come on, you… I can't believe it took so long to get you to take a break to have lunch with me… Good thing, I talked to Kaida. She said she'd make sure you took a break today," Izumi said as she led him to a tea shop. Linking her arm with his, "I'm so happy we finally get some time to ourselves… Just us," Izumi smiled, popping up on her toes to kiss Itachi's cheek. "I've missed you. You've been gone for a while,"

Itachi could feel the curious eyes they caught as Izumi linked their arms and kissed his cheek. Itachi paid them no mind; they were just two friends out getting lunch. "You talked to Kaida?" Itachi asked as they took a seat at a table right outside of the shop.

"Is that all you heard? How else was I supposed to get you alone to spend some time with you during the day?" Izumi laughed, giving him a wide simile. "You've been gone for weeks,"

_'So that's why Kaida just cut off our conversation… She promised-'_

"Itachi, are you listening to me?" Izumi interrupted his thoughts with an irritated look, "Really, Itachi. We haven't hung out in a while now, and it took me talking to _Kaida_ to get you alone to spend time with you… I currently don't want to talk about Kaida. I want to talk to you. About us," she spoke, irritation lacing her voice at Itachi's mentioning of Kaida. She liked Itachi's teammate. She did, but she didn't like how much time he spent with the other girl. It was inappropriate for a man who was in his position, being betrothed as they were, for him to spend so much time with someone of the opposite sex who wasn't his betrothed. _'Not to mention the inappropriate ways that petite teammate of Itachi's hangs off him,'_ she thought, watching the man in front of her, _'I don't understand why he doesn't tell her off... It's entirely inappropriate for her to touch him the way she does,'_

"Comin," they heard the voice of one of the waiters call from in the tea shop before the short girl ducked under the drapes to walk out. "Welcome, what can I get you and your girlfriend?"

"Friend… And I'll take some Dango, green tea, and an order to go," Itachi said flatly, not bothering to look at the menu. He loved this tea shop's Dango and green tea, and he had promised Kaida to bring her back Something to eat.

"Oh, umm. Okay, and you miss?" The girl muttered, turning to a red-faced Izumi, who quickly ordered.

Itachi looked back to Izumi after the waitress had disappeared into the restaurants. She had her face turned to the ground. He looked at her blankly when she looked back up at him, giving him a hard look.

"Friend… How am I just a friend? We go out like this at least once a month… I've been under the assumption that we were dating Itachi… We are betrothed," Izumi started keeping her voice low. She looked up, smiling as the waitress brought them their food, glancing at the takeout bag the waitress placed on the table. She knew Itachi wasn't good with emotions, but he had to see that they were good together. She sighed, taking small bites of her food; she had worked hard to show him that she would be a good girlfriend. She had been sure he was interested. He never told her off or told her to leave him alone.

"No, Izumi, we aren't. The elders left that up to me. If I want to marry you, I have to ask. We aren't' betrothed, I'm sorry if I mislead you, Izumi, but I only see you as a friend," Itachi stated, wanting to be clear. He had gone to many meetings and argued just to have that added to his arrangement with Izumi. The clan might want them to marry, but they weren't betrothed. He wasn't entirely sure how she had reached her conclusion; he had never done anything to lead her to think he wanted to date her. All of their outings had been her idea, and they had been short ones like these quick lunches at tea shops or the ramen shops. They weren't always alone, either.

"Right, of course, you don't have time right now for dating," Izumi smiled, standing up.

Itachi blinked, looking up at her. She had tears spilling out of her eyes; he watched as she quickly turned around and walked off. Itachi sighed, leaning back in his chair, looking up to the sky. He lifted himself, dropping some money down on the table before grabbing the takeout bag and heading back towards Anbu's headquarters.

……

"Come in," Kaida called, pushing long strands from her face as she looked up to see Captain Taro Uchiha walk in the door, closing it behind him. Kaida raised an eyebrow at the older man. Who was reading over a stack of forms in his hands. He was dressed in his Anbu gear mask hung from his belt. ' _Must have just gotten back from a mission,'_ Kaida thought, looking over the man. Taro was Shisui's age _;_ he had only joined the ranks two years ago and had recently been given command of his own team.

"Kaida, what a pleasant surprise…"

Kaida snorted at the way the scowl on his wide-set face turned into a wide smirk when he noticed her in the chair and not Itachi, who he had been expecting. "Captain Uchiha, Itachi had to step out for lunch... How can I help you? She asked, leaning her elbows on Itachi's desk so she could hide her snicker behind her hands. The man looked ridiculous, striding up to her, hand on his belt with that stupid smirk on his face.

"I could always use your help, beautiful… What are you doing here, though?"

"Itachi punished me with paperwork," Kaida deadpanned, lifting some of the documents she was working on, "If that's paperwork for him, I can take care of it,"

"He has you in his office doing his work for him?" Taro asked, leaning down on the desk after handing over the paperwork. "And exactly how is that fair?"

Kaida snorted at the man's attempts at flirting. She was honestly starting to get a little tired of his flirting, "It's a punishment."

"I can see why he would want to have such a pretty thing in his office… But honestly, I don't think I'd be able to get any work done with my girlfriend doing paperwork behind my desk…"

Kaida schooled her features, raising an eyebrow at Taro's comment, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. she didn't miss Taro innuendo, and she certainly didn't appreciate what he was implying, "I'm not Itachi's girlfriend… He's my Captain,"

"I thought-"

"I'm not Itachi's anything… He's out having lunch with Izumi," Kaida sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"Really, now! And here I thought…" Taro smiled, sauntering around the desk, coming to lean back against the front of the desk at her side. "I thought you two were together. That cousin of mine is pretty stupid if he hasn't swept you up yet… A girl like you…" he paused, running his eyes up and down her seated form, "You are the hottest thing… Let me take you out,"

Kaida kept the snort from coming out, biting her cheek. Leaning back in Itachi's chair, she crossed her arms, giving the man a broad look, "Why should I do that?"

"I could treat you ten times better than him… Come on. I know you like him. A girl like you should have a man on his knee for her," He whispered husky, leaning forward to place his hands on either side of the armrest to bring his face closer to her. "I'll take you wherever you like,"

"And just what are you hoping to get out of it?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. Kaida honestly didn't know what was up with Itachi's cousin, but he had been acting strangely for a while now.

"Caught me…" Taro smiled, "Well, your company for one… But also a switch. I'd love to have you on my team… I, for one, wouldn't punish you with paperwork… I'm sure we could come up with Something else,"

"Taro… I've told you before I'm perfect-"

"You should think about it, sweet cheeks… Itachi doesn't appreciate you. I mean, he leaves you all alone to have lunch with another girl. One that honestly can't compare to you,"

"Izumi is a sweet girl… If Itachi is dating her-"

"He's stupid. Why date a little candle when you can date a wildfire? You're hot, sexy… You should have-" Taro smirked, interrupting the woman curled up in the chair.

Kaida's head turned at the sound of Itachi's toneless voice from the now open doorway, "If you two are done with your conversation. I need to talk with Kaida about what she is expected to finish while the rest of the team is training,"

Kaida raised an eyebrow at her Captain, pulling her legs up under her in his chair. His voice might sound toneless and flat, matching the blank look on his face, but she caught the slight twitch of his left eye, the tightening of his hand at his sides, nearly crushing the bag in his left hand. He was irritated. She turned her eyes back to Itachi's clansman, Taro, who still had his hands placed on either arm on the chair leaning over her. The elder man gave her a smirk straightening up.

"Itachi… I was just asking this beautiful woman what I had to do to get her on my team… You wouldn't mind, would you?" He asked, moving around the desk, spreading his hands out in front of him. Dark eyes meeting, darker eyes as the two men stared each other down.

Kaida crossed her arms, watching Itachi take in the words his clansman spoke. Catching the slight tightening of his jaw and fist as he stepped further into the room. _'Seriously… He's jealous,'_ she sighed, sliding her legs out from under her crossing her legs, leaning her arms on the desk, "I told him, Captain... I'm happy where I am..."

"There's your answer," Itachi nodded, voice still toneless dark eyes intense as he held his clansmen gaze.

"Well, if you ever change your mind," he laughed, turning and winking to Kaida with a wave before moving around Itachi and ducking out of the office.

"Your cousin is annoying," Kaida laughed, leaning back in Itachi's chair, "He doesn't stop… No matter-"

"You should be embarrassed… That was the most unprofessional display I have ever seen." Itachi started cutting off Kaida's words. Hands still clenched at his side, trying to keep his voice level. When he had heard the words coming from Taro's mouth directed at Kaida, he wanted to march in there and break the man's hands, wanted to pull Kaida away from the other man and force her to put on his cloak that was hung in the corner. He had been waiting for Kiada to tell Taro off. Not be forced to sit and listen to her practically flirt with another man.

"Excuse me?" Kaida asked flatly, standing from his chair, walking towards him.

"I asked you to do paperwork, not sit in my office, flirting and planning dates… If-" Itachi started tossing the crushed food bag on his desk as he crowded Kaida.

Kaida turned, eyeing the crushed bag. "What the hell is wrong with you, Itachi!" Kaida yelled, turning on him, making hair fly up a little, smacking his chest from how close he was to her. She glared up at him with fire in her eyes, "You don't get to tell me who I can go on a date with…" she hissed him shoving his chest to push him back. Growling under her breath when her tall Captain didn't budge.

"Taro only wants one thing from you," Itachi hissed just as angrily, catching her wrist, gripping tightly to pull her closer to his chest. "I didn't think you were so stupid-"

"Stupid… You son of… Fuck you, Itachi…" Kaida ripped her hands from his grip only to slap him in the next, turning his head with the force. "I'm not some cheap piece of ass. How dare you!"

"What am supposed to think coming in-"

"You are supposed to be my friend, you fucking asshole… I don't like Taro. Just because your fucking jealous, that isn't my problem. Fuck you… I don't belong to you…" she ranted, stalking around the room, yelling as she threw things. "I can date… Hell, I can sleep with whoever I want. It's none of your business,"

"You-" Itachi growled, running a hand through his hair only to be interrupted by Kaida as she stalked up to him, hips swaying.

"No… You don't speak to me like this." She fumed, rounding on Itachi again to poke him in the chest, craning her neck to glare up at him.

"And it's okay for you to speak to me like this? Are you seriously going on-" Itachi hissed through clenched teeth glaring down at her taking a deep breath trying to calm himself. She made him so angry, angrier than anyone else he knew. She drove him absolutely crazy.

"Are you seriously that jealous… I'm not yours, Itachi… I can do what I want," Kaida hissed, poking him with each word.

Itachi took a deep breath staring down at her, the fire in her eyes, her long hair hanging around her body. He loved the look in her eyes right now. Even if she was angry, she looked beautiful. Standing in front of him, barely tall enough to come to his shoulder, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath from screaming at him, "I'm going to train," he spoke evenly, turning away from her abruptly. He wanted to kiss her. He couldn't stay here with her. They both needed to calm down and talk when they were calm.

"Yeah, just fucking walk away… Asshole,"

Itachi stopped at the door, taking a deep breath at the sound of her anger-filled words. "Kaida… I'll be back after training, then I'll talk to you... Okay…"

…..

Itachi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Shisui had worn him out at training; they had trained with the other team members except for Kaida. After they had finished training as a team, they trained together for the next five hours. It was now close to twelve-thirty, and he still had some work he needed to help Kaida finish. He wondered briefly if she was even still in his office or if she had given up waiting on him hours ago and went home. Which he wouldn't blame her for. He had told her he would be back about six hours ago. He also wouldn't blame her if she had left after he had. Left him all his paperwork to do on his own. He had been an ass to her, been completely unfair. She was right; he was jealous. He didn't like seeing another man flirting with her, especially one from his own family. He wanted to be with her. What he felt for her, he didn't feel for anyone else; he knew that much. But he just wasn't sure if what he felt for her would last. She never left his mind, the way she smiled, the way her eyes glinted when she was teasing him. That smile he loved seeing that would stretch across her face. But she wasn't his, they weren't together, and he had no right to act the way he did. Hell, even if they were together, he wouldn't have a right to act the way he did. He never acted so brashly.

He let out another sigh as he made his way down the empty hallways of Anbu's headquarters. If Kaida were still in his office, he would get an ear full for being so late. He moved down the mostly dark Captain's hall at this hour. The part of headquarters that held offices was hardly staffed at this time, so only the emergency lights were on. Leaving an eerie look in the hall, it didn't take him long to make it to his office. Itachi stopped outside his office at the sound of Kiada's voice.

"Please… No… No..."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the scared tone of her voice. She sounded terrified. Opening the door slowly, hand on his tanto, he found the main lights off, only a small lamp on his desk. Kaida was asleep across his desk, face lit by the small desk lamp. Her face was pulled into a frown, tears leaking out of closed eyes. Itachi ignored the sound of his tanto clanging to the ground, ignored the sound of the door shunting behind him. He stopped in his tracks, hand to his chest at the sudden intense pain shooting through his chest. Itachi still had his eyes trained on Kaida, who was weeping in her sleep. The second she called out his name, he was across his office kneeled by her side, trying to ignore the pain still shooting through his chest. "Kaida…" he softly called, one hand on her bare knee as he reached up to push long pale blue locks from her face. Trying to wake her gently, he called out to her again, stroking her cheek this time.

"Itachi…" she yelled, jerking back in the chair with a twist.

Itachi placed both hands on her knees, rubbing circles into the side of her knees with his thumbs. Watching silently as her chest heaved up and down in panic, she didn't seem to know where she was, "Kaida, you're okay… I'm here… I'm right here," He spoke calmly when she wasn't calming. He gave a sigh when her wide eyes finally focused on him, finally some of the pressure leaving his chest.

"Itachi," Kaida breathed out, launching herself from the chair at him. Wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. That space was honestly her favorite spot to rest her head. He made her feel so safe. She let out a shuddering breath at the feel of his chest expanding with air, at feeling his pulse beating in his neck against her.

"Ohf," Itachi let out a breath wrapping one arm around her as Kaida knocked him on the ground, landing completely on top of him. Itachi placed a hand on the ground sitting them up while keeping his other arm wrapped tightly around her. "Kaida?" He asked when she tightened her grip on him before bursting into tears. Itachi immediately wrapped both arms around her, tangling one hand in her long locks as he leaned back against his desk. "Kaida, what's wrong?" he asked again with urgency filling his voice. He could feel her nail digging into the back of his neck as she shook her head against him, crying harder. Itachi sighed, tightening his grip, not knowing what else to do, "I'm here... You're okay… We're okay,"

"I… My sisters... You… I saw you…" Kaida hiccupped into his neck. Crying into his neck, digging her nails into the flesh of his upper shoulders and lower neck in desperation to bring herself closer to his body heat, pressing herself harder against his chest.

"Kaida, take a deep breath," Itachi whispered, lips against her ear. He turned his head into her hair absentmindedly, pressing a kiss to her temple as he felt her do as he asked. "Good…" he continued to stroke her hair and back as she slowly calmed, breath evening out to where it didn't sound like she was hyperventilating.

"Oh… You are alive… Thank god,"

He could feel her muttering against him, feel her lips dragging across his neck as she spoke. What was she dreaming about? "I'm fine, Kaida… I'm right here," Itachi tensed at the feel of her full lips pressing quick kisses up the side of his neck, down his jaw towards his mouth. ' _Is she still dreaming,'_

"I thought… I saw," She hiccupped, tears running down her face. Kaida brought her hand up to stroke his cheek, "Thank god you're okay," she sighed out before pressing her lips to his in a quick kiss.

Itachi was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest the moment her full lip touched his. It took every ounce of his self-control to push her back by her shoulder just enough to look her in the eyes. As much as he wanted to kiss her, he couldn't. Not like this. "Kaida, what happened?" Itachi raised a hand to stroke her cheek. Their faces were so close he could see the tears gathered on her lashes.

Kaida looked down, noticing their position for the first time. Itachi was sitting up under her, leaning back against his desk with her straddling his waist. Kaida was sure her cheeks were pink now. There was no way Itachi had missed the way her straddling him had pushed her skirt up dangerously high. "Uh… We should probably get up,"

Itachi grinned at seeing the small blush on Kaida's face when she noticed how she was sitting on him. It was nice that he could make her blush too, "Why are you uncomfortable?" he teased, trying to lighten the mood hands, settling to her waist without a thought. His smile widened as Kaida's blush deepened, and she laughed.

"Very funny, Sweetie," Kaida grinned, slapping her hands down on his broad shoulders, pushing herself up to stand over Itachi. Feet still on either side of his hips.

Itachi coughed, turning his head to the side, watching Kaida out of the corner of his eyes as she stood up, tugging her skirt down. He had a fantastic view of her tanned legs from where he sat. As soon as she moved from standing over him, Itachi picked himself up off the floor. Turning around, he found Kaida already sitting up on top of his desk. Itachi just shook his head, sitting himself down in his chair, "So, what happened?"

Kaida sighed, throwing her feet up in Itachi's lap. "It was the dream again…"

Itachi nodded, staying silent, knowing she would start once she found the words she needed. His hands covered her feet, rubbing small circled on the bottom of feet with thumbs.

Kaida smiled; he was so sweet. "It was different this time… I saw different me's… They all died. But then it switched to just one version of me… Then… You're going to think I'm crazy, Itachi... This makes no sense,"

"It doesn't… But you are experiencing it, so it's real…" He hummed, looking back up at her dark eyes, locking with hers, "I thought we already established I think you're crazy, Kaida," that earned him a smile, "Does this have to do with you screaming my name?"

"I saw you in my dream… Or at least I think it was you, you looked different, but your name was the same, so was mine, but I looked different… It looked like we were way in the past before the waring state era…" She stopped to take a breath. Itachi was still looking at her, completely calm. "Umm… We were together in bed when these men attacked us. You told me to get our daughters and wake up my sisters while you would fight… They… They kept calling me a priestess. That you had no right to make me… Her I guess your wife…" Kaida let her voice trail off when Itachi's hands stopped rubbing her feet.

Itachi sat there, taking in her words. Kaida had been dreaming of what she believed were her past lives for years now, and she had learned somethings from her dream that he had been able to find in the old text in his family library. "So, you saw our past lives married with daughters being attacked… We had the same name as we do now?"

"Yeah, I… The main man that came to our house. He said he was your cousin. The man … Itachi there was Something wrong with him. He was crazy… But he had your eyes… He had the Sharingan… He kept going on about how you had betrayed him by marrying me and having kids with me…"

Itachi took a deep breath. She was telling him that the man who had killed them was his cousin and had the Sharingan. "If he had the Sharingan, I should be able to find him in my family's books… I'll bring some of the oldest family logs with me here for you to look at… So, what happened,"

"He killed us all… You killed many of the men, but you couldn't kill them all. They killed you first, then killed our children, and my sisters and then killed me… I could hear you, our daughter, and my sister screaming,"

Itachi sighed, standing up, letting her feet slid from his lap. Her dream disturbed him. Not that she told him they were married or had children, that him in her dream hadn't been able to protect his family. If what she was dreaming really was their past, then he had failed his family, and they had been brutally murdered because of that. She might not have told him the way they were all killed, but he knew it was terrible if she was screaming. "Did anything else happen?"

Kaida shook her head with a sigh looking down at her hands in her lap. Itachi took that a lot better than she thought he would have.

"Why didn't you tell me about this, Kaida? You could have told me the first time this happened. You could have told me this morning. When I asked you," He was worried about her because he knew how strong she was. There wasn't much that could scare Kiada, which worried him that this dream was scaring her. For heaven's sake, he had found her whimpering and yelling his name in his offices. That she felt like she couldn't come to him bothered him even more. "Kaida," he called again, hands coming up to slide under her chin, thumbs rubbing along her jaw.

"I… I just don't…" Kaida trailed off, looking down at her lap. He was right; she did need to talk about it. She should have come to him; he always managed to make her feel better and make the terrible images from the dreams go away. She looked back up when Itachi took a step closer to her and brought his body closer to her seated one. Again, her heart raced as he stepped in front of her, pushing her long hair out of her face. The way he did just this morning, the way he has pushed her hair out of her face so many times before.

"We promised always to be honest with each other, Kaida… Tell each other things like this," he reminded her gently. Itachi let a small smile grace his features at the memory of that promise. So many years ago, now, it meant a lot to him. He had stuck to it, and it bothered him that she hadn't with this dream. Itachi brushed long blue bangs from her face without her since it was hiding her eyes from him. He sighed, feeling her hot skin against his skin. Touching her was starting to become addicting in and of itself. The feel of her soft, smooth, hot skin beneath his hand made him wonder what the rest of her body would feel like. Itachi finally felt all the pressure in his chest release as Kaida sighed, giving him a small smile leaning into the hand, holding her cheek.

"Itachi... I just don't want to bother you. I can handle it on my own-"

"Like I said this morning… Don't ever think you are bothering me," he interrupted before pulling her into his chest, wrapping his lean muscular arms around her back, tangling a hand in her hair. He hated seeing that torn, dejected look on her beautiful face, "You should know you can tell me anything, Kaida… At any time," Itachi sighed, eyes closed, pulling back just enough to lean his head against her forehead, "You could never bother me," he breathed, opening his eyes. Itachi leaned closer to Kaida, eyes flicking down to her full lips before snapping back up to her eyes. He could see the bands of gray in her steel-blue eyes from this close. "Kaida," he breathed out against her lips. His lips brushed hers as he spoke, taking air from his lungs at the dazed look in her eyes.

"Yeah?" Kaida asked just as breathlessly as him. She tilted her head up, letting out a sigh as the action caused their noses to rub against each other's cheeks as she slid her hands up his chest to rest against the sides of his throat.

Itachi swallowed, taking a deep breath pulling back. He gave Kaida a smile tracing her cheek with his thumb before carding his hand through her beautiful hair. ' _God, she's beautiful,'_ Itachi pulled his hands from her body, pushing his bangs back from his face. He had almost kissed her. She was one of the most important people in his life. ' _I… if we act on whatever this is, and it goes bad… I can't lose her,'_ he thought with a sigh.

"Itachi?" Kaida asked, watching as he paced in front of her, his lips thinned out as he pressed them together, hands fisted at his sides. She had thought they were going to kiss. Then he had just stopped.

"Kaida… Whatever this is, between us…" Itachi started stopping once again in front of her with a determined look on his face, "I don't think it's anything real… It's not a good idea. We are on the same team. I'm your Captain..." He wanted to place a hand over his chest to ward off the sudden pain at the look that passed over Kaida's face. It reminded him of the night his family died the next morning when they had been informed that her mother had been killed on the way back to the village. She had broken down and cried in his arms that night. The look on her face now was so reminiscent of that it hurt. It had hurt him to say the words.

Kaida closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, counting to three before hopping off Itachi's desk. She shouldn't have kissed him the way she did, shouldn't have. She was so stupid. Itachi was smart, sure, but he certainly wasn't great with his emotions. But for him to look her in the face and say what they were both feeling for each other wasn't real. That hurt, "Not real… Okay..."

"Kaida…" Itachi started moving towards her, raising out a hand as she turned her back to him. Itachi sighed, letting his hand fall before touching her bare shoulder.

Kaida turned, giving him a small smile. Itachi sighed, closing his eyes, turning his head to the side at the fake smile on her face. Kaida shook her head, turning back to the desk, picking up papers, staking them together, "These are all filled out. Just need your signature… Then you will need to take them to Ibiki, and these need to be filled with the Clerk. It's our mission reports for Anbu files… Now, Captain, I'm going home," she said, tone light placing the paper in front of him before gabbing her coat, pulling her shoes on.

"Kaida..."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Kaida nodded, grabbing her bag, then she was out the door.

Itachi sat down in his chair, laying the papers on his desk. Letting out a heavy sigh, he ran a hand through his hair, laying his face in his hands. His chest felt tight again like he had been running for hours without stopping, ' _What did I just do?'_


	11. Chapter Eleven: Mission to The Land of Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto storyline.

They headed off down the road, the sun beating down on them from high in the sky. Keina walked beside Kakashi, looking at Naruto’s back as he walked in front of them. Kakashi had forced Naruto to walk ahead since he had tried to hit Tazuna again. Though she had to say she couldn’t blame Naruto for being mad, Tazuna was a real piece of work. However, that didn’t excuse losing his cool and trying to attack the man he was supposed to be protecting. She sighed. Naruto was even more impulsive and violent than her sister. At least Kaida could control herself and didn’t attack clients. Sasuke and Sakura had been quietly walking beside her and Kakashi. Keina thought they were pretty diligent students so far. Even if each of Kakashi’s students had some severe issues they needed to work through, they all could follow the orders given.

Keina turned her head to look at Sakura as she spoke to Tazuna. “Say, Mr. Tazuna, your country is the land of waves, right?”

“Yeah, what of it?” came Tazuna’s guff reply as he turned his head to look at the small pink-haired girl.

“Kakashi sensei, there aren’t any ninja in that county are there?” Sakura asked, leaning forward to look at her sensei. Keina let out a barely noticeable sigh. The girl should know this before leaving the village; it was essential to one’s survival. Knowing which countries had ninja and where it was most likely to run into enemies. She tuned out Kakashi’s explanation to his students, serving her surroundings. She let her eyes scan over the bodies of those with her, skimming over the trees, the road. She turned her attention back as Kakashi yelled at his students for something she missed. She raised an eyebrow at Kakashi as he moved to Sakura’s side. Placing his hand on top of her head to reassure her that they wouldn’t be having any ninja battles. Keina remembered Kakashi saying Sakura came from a civilian family. She must be nervous. _‘She’ll have to get over that… I come from a civilian family too, and I didn’t act like this,’_ Keina thought, planning on talking with the young girl when she could.

“Then, we’re not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja?” Sakura asked, voice taking on a hopeful tone.

Kakashi chuckled, catching Keina’s eye. He gave the older girl a wink before turning his attention back to his young student, “Not likely,”

Keina smiled; she thought it was sweet that Kakashi took the time to ease his civilian raised student’s nerves. She quickly turned her attention back to scanning their surroundings as she had been. Just because it wasn’t likely that they would get attacked didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. Keina raised an eyebrow making eye contact briefly with Kakashi as she noticed a puddle. They continued walking as if nothing happened. It didn’t take long for what she expected to happen. In the next few seconds, the ninja hiding in the puddle rose out of it attacking. In an instant, they had their chains warped around Kakashi’s body. The kids all yelled out in surprise as the enemies pulled, pulling what appeared to be Kakashi’s body apart. Keina moved to protect the bridge builder following Kakashi’s plan, and she had discussed it with him the night before they left. Kakashi had told her he felt like the bridge builder was lying about something. He also wanted to see how his students would react in an actual combat situation. Now was the best time. She knew he was watching. There was no need for either of them to intervene right now.

“Now it’s your turn,” the two enemies laughed, attacking Naruto. Keina was surprised when Naruto froze up and just stood there. She was about to move in when Sasuke moved in, saving Naruto. She was impressed by his fast action. Next, the enemies made their way towards her. Sakura shocked her even more, when she stepped in front of her and the bridge builder.

“We are your bodyguards. Stay behind me,” the small pink-haired girl said in a determined voice. Keina almost laughed, and the girl standing in front of her knowing a rock would probably have a better chance at protecting her against the men attacking them. She liked Sakura. She did, but the girl had a long way to go if she wanted to be a good ninja. Again, Sasuke surprised her by flashing in front of Sakura, his arms spread with a determined look. In the next breath, Kakashi had both enemies in a headlock, unconscious.

“Hi,'' He said, merely looking at his students, “Naruto, sorry I didn’t help you right away. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I just didn’t think you would freeze up like that,” he said over his shoulder to the blonde. Kakashi made his way over to her, Sasuke and Sakura. “Good job Sasuke you to Sakura… Thanks for letting them try to handle it, Keina,”

“No problem,” Keina nodded, moving out of Tazuna’s way; she had heard the man’s comment out them, not letting him die. He was seriously getting on her nerves. If he weren’t a client, she’d give him a piece of her mind. Keina looked over to Naruto, who looked to be having some internal crisis and made a mental note to talk to him. It wasn’t wrong to freeze up the first time, well it was. But it happened, it doesn’t make you a bad ninja.

“Hey, you’re not hurt, are you? Scaredy Cat?” Sasuke asked Naruto, his voice taking on a condensing tone.

Keina had to suppress a growl and count to three to keep from hitting Sasuke at the words she heard him speak to Naruto. Oh, she would be talking with Itachi. Sasuke had turned into a little shit, and his _‘I’m better than thou,’_ attitude was getting old.

“Naruto!” Kakashi called, trying to get his student's attention, “These ninjas have poison in their claws. We need to take it out immediately. You have to take it out and remove it. It’s in your blood, so don’t move around that spreads the poison… By the way, Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk,” Kakashi said in the last part to the old man, still holding the two enemies in a stranglehold. Keina and Kakashi took the time to tie the two men up to a nearby tree. Keina made sure the rope was tied securely.

“Keina…” Kakashi called softly as they finished tying the men up. Keina turned her head to the side, lifting her eyes to look at Kakashi. He was standing up beside her kneeled form as she got some bandage out of her bag for Naruto.

“Yes,”

“Thanks for letting my kids try and handle that,”

“Yeah,” Keina nodded as they made their way to stand in front of the tree. Keina turned her attention back to Naruto, who was still standing stunned. She half-listened to Kakashi talk to the bridge-builder, the men tied up were awake.

“Their chunin from the village hidden the mist they specialize in relentless attack,” Kakashi started staring at the men tied up against the tree.

“How did you know about our ambush?” one of them asked, glaring at the white-haired ninja.

“A puddle on a clear day when it hasn’t rained in weeks,” Kakashi deadpanned. These children hadn’t thought through their plan. It was a terrible strategy to hide in a puddle in a place that hasn’t had rain in weeks.

“In that case, why did you two leave it for the genin to do the fighting,” Tazuna ground out loudly. Keina looked up to the sky to hide her eye roll; the man was fine.

“I could have taken them out quickly... So, could Keina, but I had to know who their target was,” Kakashi shrugged, stating his plan for why they had stayed out of the fight. Kakashi had only interfered when he had learned what he needed.

“Hmm, what are you getting at?” Tazuna asked, pointing angrily at Kakashi.

“This… I wanted to know if they were after us ninja attacking ninja... Or you, the Master Bridge Builder. When you put in your request for standard protection, protection from robbers and highwaymen, you didn’t say ninja was looking for you. Hunting you down if we knew this, it would be a B rank mission or higher,” Kakashi stated calmly, turning to face the Tazuna, hands still in his pockets. Keina placed her hands on her hips, watching as Kakashi dressed the old man down. He was right too; this man lied to them, not knowing what all details of a mission got ninja killed. Especially when it ended with that mission being staffed wrong, she turned her attention back to Kakashi as he started speaking again. “Our mission was to get you to your destination and protect you while you finish. Keina was hired to give medical in the village while you finish the bridge. If we knew we would be fielding enemy attacks, we would have staffed differently. You have your reasons. But lying to us is unacceptable. We are beyond the scope of our mission,” Kakashi finished with his eyes narrowed.

“We are Genin. This is too advanced for our level of training... We should go back. And I really think we should treat Naruto’s wound,” Sakura said, voice filling with worry and fear. Keina sighed; she needed to talk with that girl.

“Naruto’s hand is a problem… What do you think, Keina?” Kakashi turned his attention back to Keina. It made him feel better that another Jounin on this mission was with him, but part of their task was protecting Keina. Before Keina could say a word, a flash of metal caught their eye. Both Jounin turned their heads in time to see Naruto plunge a kunai knife into his hand. Blood spurted up from the wounded they watched, listening to Naruto’s speech about how determined he would ever run away again. Keina gave a smile at listening to him promise the bridge boiled to protect him.

“Naruto, that was cool and all how you took the poison out, but if you lose any more blood, you will die,” Kakashi said, looking at his student. He knew it wasn’t true, but he also wanted to get his student to understand that stabbing yourself wasn’t a good idea. Keina slapped Kakashi over the head, knocking him forward. Naruto was freaking out now, thanks to what Kakashi had said.

“Don’t tell him that you asshat,” Keina sighed, kneeling next to Naruto, “Give me your hand,” Keina held his hand in hers, assessing the wound. The edges looked like they were burning back together _‘he’s healing… is this the foxes chakra?’_ Keina wondered; she turned her head to see Kakashi leaning over her shoulder, looking at Naruto’s hand.

“Ummm… You two have a very intense look on your faces… You’re scaring me, am I okay?” Naruto said, voice shaking.

“You’re fine, Naruto…” Keina smiled, hand glowing with healing chakra as she covered Naruto's hand with her, healing his hand the rest of the way. “There, good as new,”

……………………….

Keina sat tense in the wooden boat as they traveled through the water. The dense fog made her uncomfortable, she couldn’t see much of their surroundings, and the morning’s silence was eerie. Kakashi sat next to and as relaxed as he looked, she knew he was just as tense as her. The only ones taking time to rest were the kids. They were set around the wooden boat, looking around at the ocean that they could see through the dense fog.

“This fog is so thick you can’t see anything,” Sakura muttered, looking around. No doubt she had never seen anything like this before. They never had fog like this in the leaf.

“The bridge isn’t far now. Our destination's just ahead of us... The land of waves,” Their boatman whispered, continuing in his rowing. They all sat in tense silence as the man continued to row them through the water. No one spoke. It was long till they saw a massive shadow in the fog as they paddled closer, the shadow turned into stone and metal. Keina started, eyes widened at the large bridge. Everyone’s head whipped to the side as the boat filled with screams of amazement.

“What? Quiet! I told you no noise... What do you think we are traveling like this for... Cutting off the engine and rowing... Traveling through the water, moving through the dense fog, so they don’t see us?” the boatman hissed at Naruto, cutting off his yell. _‘Really? Naruto, you’re a ninja, not a kid,’_ Keina sighed. _‘Didn’t Kakashi teach these kids anything about stealth?’_

“Mr. Tazuna, before we reach the peer, I want to ask you something. These men who are after you. I want to know why. If you don’t tell us, I'm afraid I’ll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore. I’ll be taking Keina with me as well. We didn’t agree for our medic to be in danger.,” Kakashi broke the silence again, keeping his voice low. He cut his visible eye at Tazuna, an irritated grunt giving the man a stern look. Keina suppressed a response, now wasn’t the time to point out that she didn’t need Kakashi deciding if she would stay on her mission for her.

“I have no choice but to tell… No, I want you to know the truth. This is beyond the scope of the original mission,”

“Hump, about damn time,” Keina whispered lowly. Kakashi turned his eyes back to her, giving her a small grin before giving the bridge builder his full attention again.

“The man who wants my life is a very short man, who cast a very long and deadly shadow,” Tazuna finished ominously, looking up at the ninja around him from under the brim of his hat.

“A deadly shadow?” Kakashi curiously asked, raising an eyebrow at the tone the old man was using.

“Who is it?” Keina asked, leaning forward to look at the old man better.

“You know him, at the least, you have heard his name before... The shipping businessman Gato?” Tazuna replied, gruffly arms still crossed, eyes closed.

“Gato?” Kakashi asked again, recognizing the name. _‘Where had he heard that name before?’_ He knew he had heard the name in his years as an Anbu. Anbu sent him all around the lands, but where had he heard it?

“Of Gato transport, yeah, everyone knows him,” Keina said, interrupting Kakashi's thought process. She had heard of Gato before; she remembered many of her traveling merchant panties talking about him. He was a huge businessman.

“Who... What... What?” Naruto asked, leaning close, wanting to know what the adults were discussing so quietly. Tazuna sighed, taking in a deep breath before he told them of Gato’s shady under business. He used his legit company as a cover to sell drugs and take over small villages and nations like the land of waves with the use of the Ganges and rogue ninja. He explained in a land like the land of waves, the man that controlled the sea controlled everything. He explained how his bridge represented the end of Gato’s reign of terror in the land of waves.

“If you knew he was after you… Knew he would send ninja after you. Why hide it from us?”

“Because the land of waves is impoverished now... We can’t afford an A or B ranked mission,” Tazuna sighed, looking up and locking his gaze with Kakashi’s.

Keina sighed; It made her heart hurt. Hearing the man's words. Her mission report had said that she would be giving medical aid to some of the more impoverished parts of the land of waves. The way he was speaking, if even the wealthiest of them couldn’t afford a B rank mission, then what was the land of waves really like?

“If you end this mission when you drop me ashore … There will be no bridge. They will assassinate me before I reach home…” Tazuna continued on before Keina could speak up, he kept on tone even, “But don’t feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet grandson will be upset… And he’ll cry, granddad. I want my grandad, and my daughter will denounce the hidden leaf’s ninja for leaving her father and forcing her to live her life in sorrow.”

Keina sweatdropped at the man’s dramatic antics, looking over to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to see how they were taking the words. The man was trying to manipulate them by playing on their emotions. Sasuke looked irritated if not somewhat put out by the man’s words, while Naruto and Sakura both looked bothered by the man’s words. As they should all be, but the fact remained, they couldn’t just abandon this mission. It could have international consequences for the village, “Oh well, it is not your fault… Forget it,” he finished.

Keina turned her eyes to Kakashi at hearing him sigh heavily, hunching his back, “Well, I guess we have no other choice. We’ll have to keep guarding you… Keina, are you okay with continuing?”

“Sounds like the people of the lands of waves could use some help,” Keina nodded her head, straightening her back. She left out the part that it wasn’t like they could just leave now and head home. Leaving this type of mission could have international consequences for the village. By the time they got back, and the village could send out another, more qualified team, a team with no genin Tazuna would likely already be dead. The leaf would get all the blame. They really had no choice but to continue. Keina sighed. She was sure Kakashi had reached the same conclusion.

After some time, they finally came to the shore, where the fog was less dense close to the coast. Keina gave a small grin at the way the three students looked around the small seaside village. It didn’t take long till they were let off at a dock. Keina found it nice to have her feet back on solid ground after being on a boat for so many hours that morning. They continued to walk in silence together, till Kakashi pulled her back silently from the group.

“They will send someone else… And the next ninja they send-”

“I know they’ll be a jounin or Anbu ranked,” Keina nodded, turning her head to look at the man. He stared ahead, keeping his eyes on his students and their client. Keina raised an eyebrow as Naruto suddenly ran up ahead of everyone. Turning to her, she shot a curious look at Kakashi, right before Naruto started yelling about someone following them. All hell broke loose when he threw a kunai knife startling everyone. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, tilting his head down slightly. Kenia closed her eyes, letting the older jounin know she had noticed it too. Something wasn’t right, and somehow Naruto had been the only student to notice. Given his reaction was completely inappropriate.

“That’s it, Naruto,” Sakura yelled, hitting Naruto over the head, knocking him to the ground.

“Wh-What… What’d you do that for? Someone really is following us,” Naruto insisted, holding the side of his head that Sakura had just hit. Sakura just rolled her eyes in response. Keina raised an eyebrow sidestepping to look around Kakashi at what he found behind the bushes. She let out a sigh at finding an unconscious white bunny. Looking back up at Kakashi, raising an eyebrow at him. _‘This is going to be trouble,’_ Kakashi in turn just nodded to her slightly before turning his attention back on his students. Sakura and Naruto were the only ones to react to seeing the white rabbit, both seeming upset at the possible dead snow rabbit.

Keina stood moving to Kakashi’s side, “They’re here,” she whispered, turning her body more towards his, pretending to be commenting on the fawning students.

“I know,” Kakashi responded, turning one eye on her, hands back at his hip. She wanted to laugh at how relaxed he looked even though they'd probably be in a very serious fight soon. “Lookout,” he yelled in the next breath as a large sword came soaring through the air at them.

Straightening up, Keina saw a man she had only read about, “Kakashi… That’s,”

“Zabuza Momochi rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist,” Kakashi nodded his hands in his pocket, staring up at the man standing on the sword.

Kenia signed; this was going to be a tough fight. Zabuza was in the bingo book, and he was ordered to be killed on site from every village, including his own. He hadn’t survived this long because of luck. Not to mention he had been the leader of an entire Anbu division for the Mist that had seen that division very successful. Kenia’s head jerked to the side at hearing Naruto’s loud yell as he came running between her and Kakashi.

“You're in the way. Get back... He’s not like the others. He is in a whole other league. If he’s our opponent, I’m going to need this…” Kakashi's voice was flat as he stopped Naruto with a hand before Kenia had the chance. Not taking his eyes off the shirtless enemy standing above them.

Kenia pulled a kunai from her weapon pouch, stepping up beside Kakashi as he pulled his headband up. This fight needed to end quickly; the longer it went on, the more likely something was to happen to the bridge builder. Kakashi cut his eyes to her quickly before focusing back on the man. She knew the protocol for this as a medic ninja. She was expected to hang back more; if the medic was killed, the other ninja would have no one to provide back up. It was a smart strategy the medic could heal wounds, take care of poisons, but the medic could also fight and step in when needed.

“Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, did I get that right? It's too bad, but you'll have to hand over the old man,” Zabuza spoke, deep voice flat. The bandages around his face stretched and pulled as he talked.

“Quickly, get in the Manji formation, protect the bridge builder, and stay out of this fight. Keina and I’ll take care of it,” Kakashi turned his head, keeping one eye on the man above and his Sharingan on his students. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura nodded their heads, moving into the formation their teacher taught them.

“Well, well, I get to see the Sharingan in action,” Zabuza laughed, eyes focusing on Kakashi. He was honestly looking forward to this fight.

“Everyone keeps saying Sharingan, Sharingan… Will someone tell me what that is,” Naruto yelled, waving his hands around.

“It's a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu is said to possess the vision to see through, comprehend all genjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu, and turn them back onto the user. However, there is more to the Sharingan than that. It only belongs to those in my family.” Sasuke answered, glaring at Kakashi back. _‘Why would he have the Sharingan… Is he?’_

“Then how can Kakashi-sensei have it?”

“I don’t know...”

Kenia didn’t look back as she heard Sakura and Naruto whisper to Sasuke about how Kakashi could have the Sharingan. Honestly, she was surprised Sasuke didn't know that his teacher had the Sharingan. She would have thought Itachi or Shisui at least would have mentioned it. This revelation that Kakashi had his family dojutsu was probably shocking. Someone should have told him.

“You got that right, brat, but you just scratched the surface. What's more frightening is that such an eye can assess an opponent’s techniques and copy them with perfect detail.”

Keina ignored the gasp of the genin behind her as the area they were in was filled with a thick mist, making it hard to see, but she could still hear the deep voice of their enemy.

“As for you, Kakashi, in the Hidden Mist assassination unit of Anbu, we had a standing order to kill you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you the man who copied a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the copy ninja.” Zabuza spoke, looking down at Kakashi.

Keina sighed. This was going to turn into a contest between the two males. Turning, she waved her hand at Kakashi's students signaling them to be quiet before turning back to Zabuza. Kakashi was watching him closely. The man was now couched down on his massive sword.

“Enough talking, I must kill the old man… But I guess I’ll have to kill Kakashi’s first along with the medic,”

Keina tracked the man with her eyes as he disappeared from the tree only to reappear on the water, one arm held above him, “Kakashi, he’s building up a lot of chakra,”

“I know…” Kakashi replied, listening to the man call out his jutsu. Kakashi tried to reassure his students that the enemy would attack either himself or Keina first. He was right Zabuza would most likely attack Kakashi first. “Whatever you do, don't lower your guard. If you fail, you’ll only lose your life,”

“Kakashi…” Keina hissed, she understood what he was doing, but that currently wasn’t helping calm his students. Keina’s head snapped to the side, looking back at the students as she heard Zabuza’s voice. Kakashi built up a lot of chakra. She turned her head around to see Sasuke starting to freak out.

“Sasuke… Calm down,” Kakashi ordered, noticing the same thing about Sasuke as her.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Zabuza hissed, appearing with his sword between the kids and bridge builder. “It’s over,”

“Move,” Keina yelled as Kakashi flashed in front of Zabuza, stabbing the man in the stomach only for water to start leaking out of his abdomen instead of blood. _‘A water clone,’_

“Sensei behind you,” Naruto yelled, pointing behind his teacher.

Kakashi turned his head to see Zabuza swinging his sword at him. Keina stayed in place, knowing Kakashi wouldn’t be taken out so quickly. She was right as Kakashi’s body burst into water, shocking Zabuza. _‘So, he did copy Zabuza’s jutsu… So, the Sharingan can see through this mist… I should ask my sister what else it can do.’_ Keina smirked when Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza kunai at his neck, telling Zabuza he was finished. Zabuza, in turn, just started laughing at Kakashi. Praising his talent while preparing to attack him once again. Keina let out a gasp as Kakashi went flying back through the air, Zabuza running after him. Reaching in her pouch, she threw Makibishi spike, forcing Zabuza into the water. Ignoring the kids, she looked for Kakashi, finding him in the water. _‘Really Kakashi… you escaped into the water_ ’ Keina deadpanned as Zabuza caught Kakashi in a water prison jutsu. Keina stepped in front of the kids as a water clone appeared in front of them, muttering about being a ninja.

“Huff,” She grunted, catching the kick aimed at Naruto, stopping the kick before it hit Naruto in the chest.

“Listen, take bridge builder, Keina, and run. He's using all the power to keep me in this prison. His clone can’t go far from his real body if you get away from him, the clone can’t follow,”

Keina sighed at hearing Kakashi muffled yelling from inside the water prison. The man should shut up and try and conserve air. “Listen, kids, Tazuna… Kakashi’s right, we could run the clone won’t be able to follow us… But that won’t stop him from coming after us again… Our best course of action is to work together to save Kakashi,” Keina didn’t bother to look back at the kids knowing they heard her.

The clone Zabuza laughed, charging Keina. Keina twisted, blocking his fist and kicks. _‘Good grief, he’s fast.’_ Just as she was dodging his sword, the man knocked her legs out from under her, planting a foot on her chest and holding her to the ground.

“Hey, let her go,”

Keina pushed, trying to knock the large man off her. She vaguely heard the boy’s yelling at Zabuza as they both ran to attack the clone. _‘Oh boy… we have to talk about how to attack an opponent that is stronger than you,’_ the clone laughed, not even having to take his foot off her chest to send the boys flying back. Just as the clone was going to lift his foot to stomp on her chest, Keina rolled quickly after slapping her hand up against his thigh, cutting through tenons with her chakra.

“Naruto… Sasuke,” Keina yelled, flipping away from the clone landing back on her feet, she looked to the boys. Naruto was on the ground looking at his hand, and Sasuke had already picked himself up. Keina watched as Naruto ran at Zabuza only to be knocked back once again to stand back up with his headband back in his hand. “Naruto-”

“Hey, you the freak with no eyebrows. Put this in your bingo book, the ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves he never backs down; he never backs down. His name is Naruto Uzumaki.”

Keina smiled, watching as the blonde tied his headband back on his head. _‘He’ll make one hell of a ninja one day.’_

“Sasuke… Keina, can you hear me? I’ve got a plan,” Naruto called, not looking back at them, keeping his eyes on his enemy.

“Yeah, I hear you,”

Keina snorted at hearing Sasuke's flat voice. These boys, at least they were learning, “Alright,” she agreed, wondering just what the boy had come up with.

“So, you're finally thinking about teamwork,” came Sasuke, flat reply

Naruto just snorted in response to Sasuke flat reptile. “Keina, we’ll need your help… Let’s take these guys down,”

“What are you doing… Keina, I told you all to run,” Kakashi yelled, “The mission is not to save me. It’s to save the bride builder,”

“Tazuna,” Keina asked, keeping one eye on the clone looking back at the man behind Sakura.

“This is all on me… Go ahead and help these kids fight to save their sensei,”

“Ready,” Naruto asked, to which Sasuke and Keina both nodded, focusing back on Zabuza listening to his words. Kakashi started speaking, telling what he knew of Zabuza. _‘Great, this could have waited… this could scare them,’_ she thought, listening to the man go on about death and how he killed everyone in the graduating class. Like she guessed, it scared Sakura, but she had to give Naruto and Sasuke props even though they were bothered by the story, they didn’t react with fear. In the next second, Zabuza attacked, hitting Sasuke first, not being fast enough to dodge the attack. He took the hit to the diaphragm. Keina winched at seeing him cough up some blood as he was knocked to the ground and stepped on, just as she was a few moments ago.

Keina watched, stunned as Naruto made an enormous amount of shadow clones. _‘He shouldn't be able to,’_ she thought, watching as he attacked Zabuza clone with his. She stood, waiting for a good time to intervene. Ignoring the comments from Sakura and the bridge builder.

“Keina… I’m not giving up. I've got this…” Naruto yelled, pulling Fuma shuriken from his bag troughing it to Sasuke, “Sasuke,”

Keina raised an eyebrow _‘Oh, good idea Naruto. That just might work.’_

 _‘So that’s your plan, not bad, Naruto,’_ Sasuke thought, spinning opening up the shrink “Demon Wind Shuriken… Windmill of shadows,” Sasuke yelled, leaping into the air, throwing the shuriken past the clone at the real Zabuza at the same time Keina attacked the clone.

“Having your medic attack my clone so the shuriken can come at the real me… Good plan,” he laughed, catching to bland in the air, “Too bad it won’t... Huh?” Zabuza let out a huff of surprise at seeing a second shuriken coming at him, “A second shuriken in the showed off the first.'' Before the blade made contact, Zabuza jumped, dodging the blade only for the blade to pass behind him, popping into Naruto.

 _‘Good job Naruto,’_ Keina thought, flipping away from the clone,

“Eat this,” Naruto yelled, launching a kunai at Zabuza, forcing him to pull his arm from the water prison.

“I’ll destroy you,” Zabuza hissed, turning on Naruto Fuma shuriken spinning. A stunned Naruto dropped into the water as Kakashi broke the water prison, stopping the Fuma shuriken while still in Zabuza's hand.

“Naruto, that was an excellent plan... You’ve really grown, haven’t you,” Kakashi praised, looking at the blonde bobbing up and down in the water. Keina smiled at the sight listening to Naruto proudly explain his plan to his teacher.

Keina watched as Kakashi and Zabuza started each other down nether, making a move until she saw the shuriken go sailing. The two men jumped apart and started making the same signs. _‘Is he using the Sharingan to copy Zabuza jutsu?_ ’ Keina wondered at the same time they both cast the same jutsu. Causing a massive wave to rise. Keina braced herself against the water, looking back to see Sakura and the bridge builder on the ground. As the water cleared, Keina saw them once again clearly. Kakashi was perfectly copying everything Zabuza was doing, moving the same way every time. Like he was reading his movement before he decided to move.

“How can he do this?” Sakura asked.

Keina shook her head. She didn’t know she had honestly never seen a Sharingan in action like this; it was truly something to see. Bracing herself against the rushing water as Zabuza was pushed up against a tree by the tied and Kakashi pinned him there with kunai. Only for the next second, Senbon hit his neck, knocking the large man to the ground.

“What?” she heard Naruto and Sakura yell behind her. Keina heads jerked to the side, looking in the direction of the Senbon had come from finding a hidden Mist Anbu standing on a thick tree limb. _‘This is a kid’_ turning her head back to Kakashi. She found him kneeled beside Zabuza’s body checking his vitals. Kakashi made eye contact with her. Closing his eyes, letting her know that he couldn’t find a pulse, before turning his attention on the Hidden Mist Anbu.

“Thank you. I’ve been tracking Zabuza for a long time now waiting for a time to take him down,” the small masked figure bowed to Kakashi's form on the tree limb.

“You're a tracker ninja from the village hidden in the Mist,” Kakashi stated, eyes scanning the mask covering the small form looking at him. Kakashi kept his attention on the ninja, who had jumped down in front of them. Ignoring the yelling of his students and Sakura’s explanation to Naruto about what a Tracker ninja was. His eyes took in the small frame of what had to be a child from what he could tell by the body type. A child no older than his own students, _‘He’s no ordinary kid,’_

“I see you are well informed. That’s corrected... I’m a member of the elite tracker unit of the village hidden in the mist… It was my missions to track and kill Zabuza,”

“Naruto,” Keina called, stopping the boy in his tracks as he was about to rush the child in the mask.

“Easy Naruto,” Kakashi sighed, standing and walking towards his ranting students. _‘I understand,’_ Kakashi thought while listening to Naruto go on about how the child killed Zabuza like it was child's play. He and Naruto needed Keina’s help to fight.

“Well… In this world, Naruto, some kids are younger than you and yet stronger than me,” Kakashi answered calmly, leaning towards his student. Trusting Keina to keep an eye on their Hidden Mist friend.

Kakashi looked up as he heard Keina shift her weight to find the Hidden Mist Anbu closer kneeling over Zabuza's body. The small child hoisted the body up.

“Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body… If you will excuse, me,”

“He disappeared,'' Naruto said, stunned, staring at the palace the boy in the mask disappeared.

“Let it go, Naruto,” Kakashi said flatly, looking back to his student.

Naruto stood there, staring at the spot the boy disappeared. The boy that was his and his teammate’s ages, a boy that had made something they couldn’t do, look easy. That boy would be able to kill them without putting in any effort. “What are we doing here,” he yelled, startling Kakashi and Keina with his outbursts as he fell to the ground punching it. Sasuke and Sakura just stared at their teammates, staying at the bridgebuilder’s side.

Kenia sighed, looking at Kakashi to see which one of them would stop this temper tantrum. Kakashi sighed, looking to the sky before walking to his student catching his arm, “Listen as Ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save you anger for the next enemy,” Kakashi turned and faced Kenia and his other students. Sasuke and Sakura were standing in front of Tazuna, “we still haven’t completed our mission yet… we still have to her Mr. Tazuna to his bridge.”

“Sorry I caused all this trouble, but you can rest at my house when we get to my village,”

“Okay, let's move out,” Kakashi started walking forward and suddenly dropped to the ground startling all his students. Keina was at his side, immediately rolling the man on his back.

“What happened?”

Keina turned her head to Sakura, “Listen, guys, I know you are worried about your teacher, but I need room to work, so back up,”

The three students nodded, taking the bridge builder to a little way off to wait. Keina sighed as she ran chakra-covered hands over his body. _‘His chakra’s low… Is this form the Sharingan? I wonder if this ever happens to Itachi and Shisui’?’ she thought, chakra-covered hand hovering over his temples,_ “Okay... He’s fine, mostly… He needs rest, and I need to heal his leg, but not out here. Let’s get to your house Tazuna,”

…………………

Kakashi slowly came to turning his head. He found Keina kneeled beside him, looking through her pack. Long hair pulled from its braided style and twisted up in two a thick bun low on her head.

“Oh, good, you’re awake… So, want to tell me what the passing out was about?” Keina asked, raising an eyebrow at the man laid out on the mat, “My sister works with Shisui and Itachi. They have never once passed out from using their Sharingan.”

“That you know of,” Kakashi said flatly, which got him a stern look. Kakashi sighed, eyes rolling to look up at the ceiling and away from the cool look directed at him by the medic, “I overdid it with my Sharingan… I’m not an Uchiha I don’t have their charka,” he explained simply not bother to go into any more detail.

Keina took this information in nodding, _‘Okay… I’ll ask Kaida when I get home,’_ she thought, going back to pulling out her medical supplies, “Hmm… I healed your leg. It’s fine now. You’re welcome… I can’t do anything about your chakra... Your body will just have to fix that on its own,”

“I know,” Kakashi sighed, “Thank you, Keina,” he added after a beat, thanking the medic for healing his leg. His leg had been killing him after his fight adrenaline gone, The pain in his thigh had become noticeable.

“You’re welcome… I’m about to head out with Tazuna to see some of the people that need medical assistance,” Keina spoke as she repacked her bag. She had spent her time reorganizing her thing, checking over he supplies one last time. “Listen, Kakashi… I know I don’t do as many high-rank missions as you or my sister. Enemy ninja don’t care if you set a body on fire... Why did the Hidden Mist Anbu need to take the body away to destroy it? Why not destroy it right there? There was no reason… Our trackers never do that,”

“Your right Keina... There wasn’t, and they usually do… Something isn’t right… Stay alert, have a feeling this mission is going to be difficult” Kakashi spoke lowly to her. Keina looked up as Tazuna’s daughter walked into the room.

“Are you alright?” The older woman asked, her eyes settling on Kakashi.

“I’ve been better…” Kakashi answered, trying to push himself up, “It’ll take a week before I can move normally and a few weeks before my chakra’s back to normal,”

Keina huffed, shoving the man gently back down, “Rest is the best way to restore your chakra, and right now your body needs rest,”


	12. Chapter Twelve: Feelings con...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters or storylines.
> 
> Here is a new chapter. We are back with Itachi, Kaida, and Shisui. I'll try and get the next two chapters up in a week or two. Chapter 14 will have us back with team 7 and Keina, Chp 15 will have back with Itachi, Kaida, and Shisui.

“Yeah,” Kaida called, back to the door as she leaned over Itachi’s desk, grabbing the stack of papers and scrolls that needed to go to the clerk for filing. "Shit," she hissed under her breath, accidentally knocking over one of the picture frames on Itachi's desk. Setting her work to the side, she picked up the frame. Smiling down at it. It was a picture of her, Itachi, and Sasuke, from right before the massacre. She remembered that day Shisui had taken the photo. Kaida sighed, sitting the photo backup. She missed Itachi, hadn't talked to him in days, and it was killing her.

She had come in early to avoid Itachi till later in the day when they had training. She just couldn't bring herself to speak to him after he had told her their feelings weren't real. Everything over the last few years wasn't real. It hurt. So, she was trying to avoid him. While she wanted to avoid him as much as possible, she didn’t want him in his office till midnight doing paperwork. She had been waking up early, making sure to come in hours before him to get a head start on some of his work. Kaida sighed at hearing a cough behind her. Turning, Kaida forced a small smile, “Captain Taro,” Kaida greeted with arms full of papers and scrolls, raising an eyebrow at the coffee in his hands. It was too early to deal with this man, especially for the mood she was in.

The older Uchiha smiled at the petite woman in front of him dressed in her Anbu uniform. His eyes trailing her up and down. _‘Those pants fit her like a glove,’_ he thought, ranking his eyes slowly back up her legs. She looked sexy, standing in the office, long braided hair hanging down her back, ending at her hips. “Kaida, you are a sight for sore eyes… How have you been?”

“It’s been a week,” Kaida answered flatly, looking up at the man as he came closer, forcing her eyes up to keep eye contact. She sighed; she wasn’t in the mood to deal with Taro’s excessive flirting right now.

“And I missed that face… I brought you some coffee,”

“Thanks,” She answered, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice at his honeyed tone. Kaida rebalanced her papers and scrolls, freeing up an arm, taking the offered cup in her free hand, taking a sip of it. Kaida grimaced at the flavor of the hot liquid. It tasted terrible, nothing like the coffee Itachi brought her. “What can I help you with?”

“Well, the Hokage needs to see you, but I was hoping to talk to you first? Where’s Itachi?” Taro asked, eyes scanning the office, wondering if the younger man was suddenly going to appear with a dark look on his face. It amused him how irritated Itachi got at the sight of him just speaking to Kaida. _‘Imagine if I get her... It’d drive him crazy. Fucking prodigy doesn’t win at everything.’_

Kaida snorted at the wide smirk on the man’s face. “Captain Uchiha hasn’t gotten in yet,” She stated, setting the coffee down. It was too disgusting to drink. Turning back around, Kaida leaned against the desk, “What do you want to talk about?” she asked, _‘Does this man know how ridiculous he looks? Standing here with his hand on his belt with that stupid smirk on his face.’_

“Captain Uchiha? What happened to you calling him Itachi?” Taro smirked, liking the turn of events. _‘If she’s pissed at Itachi. This’ll be a lot easier.’_ he thought, a smirk growing. He had been flirting with the girl for months now after getting to see her in action on a mission. Damn little thing was talented, and she could control fire and was utterly immune to it. He knew Fugaku hated her for causing his wife’s death. Though for him and his father, killing the clan’s matriarch was a plus in their plans. Taro smiled to himself. He was sure he could get Fugaku to see that getting the woman to marry into the family was beneficial. The things it would do to grow their power as a clan. He had already discussed it with his father; of course, there was the chance whoever married her, that their children might not have the Sharingan. But that would be an acceptable price. The children and grandchild could by marrying another member of the clan. They would have the Sharingan for sure that way. His father had told him there was no way in hell Fugaku would allow Itachi to marry the girl. But if he could, maybe his family would have enough power. To finally take over the clan. They would be unstoppable. _‘Fugaku thinks father and I are so loyal to him. Such a stupid, arrogant man.’_

“Do you really care?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge to his questioning stare. _‘What is his angle?’_ Kaida wondered, not for the first time in the last few months. Taro had never shown any interest in her. Then just a few months ago, he started flirting with her and asking her out. It was strange, and she had played along so far, wondering just what had caused the change.

“No… I figured he’d mess up eventually…” Taro smirked down at the woman. _‘Boy might be smart, but he has the emotional range of an iceberg,’_ Taro thought, running his eyes up and down Kiada’s body once again. “I told you I could treat you better, so how about that date?”

Kaida bit her lower lip, not believing he was actually asking again. “And, why should I do that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. _‘What is Taro up to? … He hates Itachi that much is obvious,’_

Taro smirked down at her, “Because like I said… I could treat you ten times better than him… Come on. I know you like him, but he doesn’t seem to like you all that much… What did he do?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” she responded, narrowing her eyes at his question.

“I suppose you're right… But listen, Kaida, I meant what I said. A sexy girl like you should have a man on his knee for her,” He whispered huskily, leaning closer to her, “As I said, I’ll take you wherever you like,”

Kaida keeps her face blank, forcing her muscles to relax. _‘He can’t be serious,’_ Kaida breathed in through her nose, trying to calm herself. This man was ridiculous, “I’m not switching teams.”

“Fine by me…” Taro smiled, “I just want to spend time with a sexy woman… You deserve a man that knows you-”

“Really now… And you're that man? … What makes you think I want that?”

“I know what I want,” Taro said, giving her a suggestive look, eyes running her up and down. “Now, how about that date? Itachi certainly doesn't want you. If he did, you’d know it... But he wants Izumi, and he takes her out all the time… Has he ever taken you out on a date?”

Kaida turned her eyes on the floor, glaring at it. _‘He’s trying to manipulate me,’_ Kiada let out a sigh. Letting Taro think she was agitated because of his words, and not just at Itachi’s words from days ago, _‘But he has a point. Itachi does actually take Izumi on dates. He’s… Made it clear what he thinks about my feelings,’_ she thought, taking a deep breath, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her chest. Kaida hated that Itachi didn’t feel the same for her, but what could she do besides move on. Taro was a good start, not that she would actually date him for real. The man was a pig, but nothing was wrong with letting him take her out. _‘It’ll also let me try to figure out just what the hell his angle was,’_ she thought, eyes fixed on the floor, _‘And let me prove to myself, I can go on a date.’_ Go on a date, which she hasn’t done since she was sixteen. Back then, all she had thought about on her date was how different the guy was from Itachi. She had ended up just leaving early, apologizing to the guy. So, this would be a good step in getting over her feelings; Taro was nothing like Itachi. It was the first step in getting over her love for Itachi. If Itachi didn’t see her the same way, she’d just have to fall out of love with him. “I have a day off in three days,”

“Hmm, that’s Friday… I’m off that day too,”

“Pick me up at my house. You can take me to get Raman…” Kaida said with a smile turning her eyes back up to him, ignoring the sharp, intense pain in her chest. _‘I should probably ask my sister about this,’_ she thought, breathing through the sharp pain that intensified.

“Captain Taro, what can I do for you this morning?” Kaida's head turned at the sound of Itachi's toneless voice from the now open doorway, hand on the door. Kaida raised an eyebrow at her Captain, eyes taking in his taut form. He was dressed in his Anbu uniform, _‘Hmm, I need to get rid of these feelings,’_ Kaida sighed in her head at the pain in her chest, as her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Itachi standing in the doorway of his office in his form-fitting Anbu uniform. Her eyes quickly snapped back up to Itachi’s face, that hard blank look she hated was plastered in place, but she caught the slight twitch of his left eye, the tightening of his hand on the doorknob, knuckles turning white, causing the muscle in his forearm to bulge from the strain of his grip. He was irritated again. Kaida looked past him to Shisui, who caught her eyes, raising a brow in question. She sighed at the questioning look Shisui was shooting at her; she hadn’t talked to Shisui about what had been bothering her, though she supposed he’d guess now.

“Itachi, Shisui...” Taro tilted his head in acknowledgment, keeping his eyes on Kaida. The man gave her a wink, bending down to kiss her cheek. Taro grinned, and he could feel dark eyes boring into his back with dark intent. Itachi wasn’t as emotionless as he liked to parade himself. It honestly surprised him that Kaida wasn’t aware the man was in love with her. Though he supposed whatever Itachi had told her made her believe he felt nothing for her. Taro winked at Kaida before walking toward the taller men standing at the door, “I was just letting Kaida know the Hokage needed her,” he smirked, meeting Itachi's glare when Itachi didn’t move out of the doorway.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the man pushing back the urge to break his jaw. He wasn’t a violent man. Breathing in through his nose Itachi tried to calm himself, shouldering past the older man.

“I’ll see you Friday, Kaida. Looking forward to our date,” Taro said, turning back to wink at the woman. Earning him a flat cold look from Itachi to which he smirked. Taro grinned to himself as he passed Shisui on his way out.

Shisui stared after the man who had just left Itachi’s office. Not believing for a minute the scene he and Itachi had just walked into seeing, forget what they heard. _‘What the hell is going on with Kaida?’_ he thought, moving into the office, shutting the door behind him. He had thought for a minute he was going to have to step in and keep Itachi from hitting the other man. Something he never thought he would ever have to do. _‘Though I suppose love and jealousy can even make passive people want to hurt someone trying to take what they love.’_ Shisui thought, moving into the tense office. The atmosphere felt like a dense fog had surrounded them. Like you would be suffocated if you took too deep a breath.

“Captain… Shisui,” Kaida nodded, keeping her voice flat, trying to ignore the fluttering of her heart at having Itachi’s intense gaze fixed on her. “I was just on my way out to file this paperwork-”

Itachi's dark eyes didn’t leave her form. He couldn’t get her words out of his head. She had agreed to go out with Taro, had let that man flirt with her, let him kiss her, “I thought I told you it was unprofessional to act that way in headquarters if you want to plan a date with a chauvinistic pig. You need to do it on your own time,” Itachi spoke, coldly hands clenched at his side, trying to keep his voice level. He felt like he was back a week ago. He had again heard everything that man had said to Kaida. Taro was trying to manipulate her. He wanted one thing from her. _‘She should see that,’_ he thought angrily. Itachi didn't see why Kaida didn’t hit the fucking bastard. Why was she letting Taro flirt with her, letting him kiss her, letting him take her out to lunch? But again, he had been waiting for Kiada to tell Taro off, not again be forced to sit and listen to her practically flirt with that man.

"Excuse me?" Kaida asked flatly, pushing off Itachi's desk, walking towards him.

“Don’t flirt in this building… It is unprofessional. I can mark you for-”

Shisui sucked in a breath, wanting to say something. Giving his little cousin a warning that now would be a good time to just shut the fuck up. _‘Really Itachi... When that girl says excuse me, she isn’t asking you to repeat yourself,’_ he sweatdropped, waiting for the impending fight.

“Fuck you… I wasn’t flirting… Taro came in here to tell me the Hokage needed me. Technically I’m not on the clock yet,” she growled, throwing the scroll down at Itachi’s feet, “I was going to help you with paperwork… You can file your own fucking work,” she growled.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her outburst. “Are you stupid? Taro doesn’t like you… He only wants to fuck you… I thought you were smarter than to agree to be another notch in his bedpost,” he said darkly, glaring at her, stepping over the papers and scrolls to stalk closer to her small frame glaring down at her.

Kaida took a shuddering breath, not liking what he was implying. She wasn’t some cheap fucking whore, and she certainly wasn’t going to sleep with Taro, “Are you fucking kidding me … You don’t get to judge me… You made what you feel for me very clear. I can date whoever the hell I want… Whatever I do is none of your concern… Our feelings aren't real right,” Kaida leaned closer, hissing the last part to him so that only he would hear.

“Kaida,” Itachi started, feeling like she had slapped him across the face. He tried to take a calming breath but could barely breathe through the sudden sharp pain in his chest. Grabbing hold of her upper arm to try and keep her from leaving his office. “I just-”

“Whatever, Captain…” Kaida rolled her eyes, jerking her arm from his grip and taking short breaths to breathe through the stabbing pain coming from her chest. Stalking to the door, hips swaying with her walk, “I’ll see you at training, Captain, Shisui,” she said, voice flat, not bothering to look back, letting the door slam shut behind her.

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes as the door slammed closed. _‘What is wrong with me?’_ he asked himself, picking up all the papers and scrolls at his feet, walking over to his desk, dropping heavily into his chair. Lately, over the past few days, every time he had tried speaking to Kaida, he had just made things worse. Made her angry, said things he hadn’t meant. Hurtful things that weren’t what he wanted to say at all to the gorgeous woman that wouldn’t leave his thoughts. She was driving him crazy.

“Well, that blew up fast,” Shisui committed dryly, “Are you okay with Kaida dating Taro?” Shisui asked, feeling like he was about to defuse a paper bomb.

"Why would I give a damn? You heard Kaida. She can go on a date with whomever she wants,"

Shisui leaned back against the black sofa, giving Itachi an unbelieving look. He had never once heard Itachi curse, "Yeah, well, that's a lie, Itachi… You give so many damns they are visible from Kiri… I mean you just blew the fuck up at her," he hadn't missed the way Itachi’s jaw had tightened. The way he had clenched his fists when they had entered his office to find Kaida was standing in front of Itachi's desk, talking to Taro about going out for lunch on Friday for a date. He had been shocked at the fight that had taken place after Taro had left. Sure, they had spats, but never in the years he had known them had he ever once seen them fight with each other like that. Their arguments were usually amusing and flirty, not fucking scary to watch.

Shisui raised an eyebrow as Itachi continued to work silently. Eyes catching the taught muscles in his bare arm, his knuckles white from how hard he was gripping the pin. Shisui sighed; he had noticed how strange Itachi and Kaida had been acting this past week. Kaida hadn’t once called Itachi _‘sweetie,’_ and he had noticed how irritated it had made Itachi to be called Captain by Kaida. He had also noticed Itachi’s growing agitation at seeing their cousin talk to Kaida. The dark look that takes over his eyes every time Taro would stop and speak to Kaida. He guessed today had just pushed Itachi too far with seeing her semi flirting with Taro and planning a date with him. “You know… Itachi, I know something happened between you two, but I’ve stayed out of it only because you guys usually work your shit out pretty quickly-”

“Do you have a point?” Itachi’s dark eyes narrowed, cutting over to Shisui, cutting off his sentence at the dark, cold look in his eyes, his face devoid of any emotion.

Shisui raised an eyebrow in response to the cold look, flat look being directed at him, “What the hell happened between you two? Kaida hasn’t been herself in about a week. She certainly isn’t treating you the same,”

Itachi sighed, dropping his work leaning back in his chair. He hadn’t known how to approach the conversation he knew he needed to have with Kaida, and he knew he had let it go on way too long. He could feel the distance between them growing with each passing day, and it was causing a deep ache in his chest. He just didn’t know what to say, what to do to show her he was sorry. Itachi sighed. He hated how she was treating him these past few days. Barely talking to him unless it was necessary, only addressing him as _‘Captain.’_ Hell, he even missed her teasing; he missed her touching him constantly. She was still driving him crazy because all he could think about was that he had ruined their relationship. Ever since he had uttered those words that had put this strain on their relationship, his chest had been hurting. Every time he saw her talking to Taro, he felt like his chest constricted like he couldn’t breathe; he wanted to break the other man’s jaw. He wasn’t a violent man, and he didn’t understand why he felt like breaking the man’s jaw or hands. He just didn’t want to see the man anywhere near Kaida. It was stupid and completely irrational. “I… I’ve been having different feeling towards Kaida lately,”

Shisui raised an eyebrow at the way Itachi worded that sentence like he was admitting some dirty little secret, “Okay… I’m going to need more,”

Itachi glared at his desk like it had committed a sin against him. Struggling with himself on whether or not to tell Shisui. He could use some advice, and he didn’t know what else to do right now, “I have friends that are girls… I’m friends with Keina… I’m friends with Izumi… But Kiada, I don’t know if what I’m feeling is hormones or… Or more...”

“Okay… So, tell me what you are feeling,”

“She’s filling up my thoughts in the best and worst ways. The way she smiles, the way her eyes glint when she is teasing me, or when she is happy or sad. I love seeing her smile… She is driving me crazy. Touching her feels so electrifying, so… So much like using my fire jutsu. I can’t stand the noises she makes every time she eats her favorite pasty. It's irritating… She’s ill-tempered, insubordinate, and impulsive, and… And intelligent, adorable, captivating, dependable, loyal-”

“Itachi, you sound like one of the old men from the clan describing his wife... You know if you cut out all the... I don't know what I’m feeling crap…” Shisui rolled his eyes, “Seriously, you’re a genius you think all of that…” Shisui stopped waving his hand in Itachi’s direction, “The way you reacted to Taro, in here giving her coffee, hitting on her, asking her out. Her agreeing to go out on a lunch date with him. Because let me state again, you do give a damn! Kaida agreed to go out to lunch with Taro. I’ve never seen you blow your fucking top, Itachi. I’ve seen you angry, but never to the point that you lose it like that. I’m mean, god, Itachi. You said shit to her that was downright right disrespectful and uncalled for… Do you seriously think all of that is passing hormones?”

“I know… I just I… I don’t want to lose her,” Itachi sighed, looking down at his paperwork, dropping his head down into his hands. Kaida was one of his best friends, someone he loved having in his life. She made his life more enjoyable and made him happy, making him feel stronger and helped him through anything. He didn’t want to ruin that because he just had a crush on her.

Shisui sighed at the almost desperate look on Itachi’s face. Well, as desperate of a look as Itachi could get on his face. Shisui sighed, “Look at me, Itachi... What happened? Because something did, and whatever it was... Not only did it piss Kaida off. Because damn, has that woman been in a bad mood... It hurt her feelings too… To the point that she’s going to go on a date with Taro. That’s not something Kaida would do for the hell of it,”

Itachi sighed, running his hand through his hair, telling his best friends what had happened between him and Kaida. Shisui, for his part, sat quietly and listened to Itachi’s story of that day. He had already heard about what happened at lunch with Izumi. He had run into Izumi on his way into headquarters. Seeing the girl so upset didn’t sit right with him, so he had stopped and eaten lunch with her. Listened to her go on and on about Itachi for an hour and a half. Shisui leaned back, listening to Itachi continue telling his view of the day; it was interesting to know that all Itachi was thinking about was Kaida. Not that it was surprising. He had noticed that they were getting a lot closer. Hell, if you asked him Kaida and Itachi had stopped being friends a long time ago, he didn’t see why they didn’t just start dating. The little Firecracker was good for Itachi if you asked him. She brought out real emotions in his friend. He acted like his true self around her instead of this emotionless stone he paraded himself to be.

“So, let me see if I’ve got all this. You almost kissed Kiada. After she kissed you because she woke up from some bad dream. A dream you aren’t going to tell me about… Freaked out and your reaction was to tell her that whatever these feelings between you guys are. That they aren’t real and not a good idea because you are on the same team, and you’re her Captain?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, if you want my advice, it sounds like losing her… That's exactly what’s going to happen…” Shisui shrugged, watching the emotions play out on Itachi’s face. Itachi looked honestly bothered at the idea of losing Kaida and not at the thought of her going to another team. Because Shisui knew that wasn’t what Itachi meant by losing her. Shisui had spent enough of his time watching them interact, watching their relationship develop to know that Itachi was in love with Kaida. Itachi just didn’t realize it yet.

Itachi sighed, running his hands through his hair before dropping a hand down to his chest, rubbing at the spot over his heart. Ever since he uttered those words, his chest had been hurting, like he had spent too much time underwater and was running out of air a lot like when he used his Tsukuyomi. He sighed, thinking over what Shisui had said. _‘Do I really sound like the old men of our clan talking about their wife?’_ Itachi wondered. He had sat and listened to some of the elders sit and talk about their wife, who had died in the massacre. He could hear the pain and love in their voice; those men sounded like they had lost a piece of their souls. _‘Do I love her?’_ he wondered, thinking over everything he had said. Thinking about his feelings for her. She made him feel so at ease, made him feel wanted, like he didn’t have to impress her because she knew everything about him, and she liked it. Just as he knew everything about her, he knew how she wanted her coffee, her favorite food, the way she bites her lip when they argue, or she is teasing him, how she feels against him when she hugs him, how she absolutely can’t cook at all. He could go on. _‘God … I’m stupid,’_ he thought. _'I spoke to her like a dog. Called her stupid, implied terrible things about her virtue,'_ he thought, growling at himself, running a hand through his hair. He felt like a scumbag. He didn’t deserve Kiada, not after speaking to her the way he has these past days.

“You okay there, Itachi?” Shisui asked, leaning forward on his knees. Itachi looked so distressed. Alarm filled Shisui at the desperate look in Itachi’s eyes, the self-hatred he could see there.

“What have I done? I spoke to her like my father would speak to… I’m a terrible man. I don’t deserve her...” he said to his best friend, looking up to him, red eyes meeting black. Kaida wouldn’t talk to him like she usually did. She was barely speaking to him. She wouldn’t even use his name.

Shisui sighed, striding over to his friend. _‘The distress he must be feeling to turn on the Sharingan,’_ Shisui sighed, hand coming down on Itachi’s shoulder. Those born into their clan felt emotions more intensely than ordinary people. It's what made their chakra so unique, which gave their Sharingan its power. It's also what made the Sharingan so dangerous when their people gave into hatred and anger. Shisui sighed if Itachi was having this hard of a time with just the thought of Kaida with someone else. He knew there was no way Itachi would be able to stand seeing Kaida with another man. “Listen, Itachi… Did you fuck up? Yes,” he started trying to keep his voice light as he turned to lean back against Itachi’s desk, looking down at Itachi, who pushed his chair back to look up at Shisui. Shisui sighed, thinking about his next words, “You made Kaida think that you believe your feelings for her are ridiculous... Cheap,”

“I-”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant, Itachi, that’s how she took it… Kaida’s pissed. She isn’t the type of girl to just follow a guy around that’s brushing her of…” Shisui stopped thinking over some talks he had with Kaida, deciding to tell Itachi some of the things he and Kaida had talked about. _‘She’ll get over it,’_ he thought, “Look, Kaida’s a lot like a sister to me… We talk about you.” he admitted getting Itachi to look back up at him in surprise, “She loves you, Itachi. Has for a few years now… But you told her that her feelings weren’t real. Think about how that felt. Are you surprised she’s agreeing to go out with someone who is showing interest in her… No… I know what kind of man Taro is, and so does Kaida. My guess is she has no plans to actually date him. I’m guessing she just wants to prove to herself she can go on a date,” Shisui halted, holding up a hand, “Don’t interrupt me. I know how you feel about Kaida, but she doesn’t, Itachi. Kaida’s smart, but she can’t read your mind. How is she supposed to know what you are thinking? When you tell her that your feelings aren't real? Then you go and speak to her like that. Taro has a point. By the way, you have never made an effort to make it clear you like Kaida. You don’t take her out, but you do take Izumi out. I know why you do it, but does she? Itachi, do you know how many times she has sat and talked to me about how frustrating you are? How one minute you seem interested and the next you are treating her like you guys are just friends,”

Itachi sighed, “What do I do to fix this?”

“I don’t know… She’s hurt, Itachi… Try talking to her… Try apologizing for what happened in here today for one,” Shisui shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest.

Itachi sighed. Shisui was right. He needed to talk to Kaida and needed to apologize to her. He hated what was happening, what was wrong with their relationship right now. Couldn’t stand not having her speak to him the way she usually did.

**……...**

Anbu mask in place, Kaida made her way through the Hokage’s home to where she felt his presence. She wondered what he wanted to speak to her about. It wasn’t often that he wanted to speak in his home’s privacy and not his office. _‘That means whatever it is, it's not official,’_ she thought. Stopping just outside the large door leading to his home office, she took a deep breath behind her dragon mask, and she could feel at least two other presence with him. Lifting a gloved hand, she rapped once against the door, crossing her arms behind her back, waiting.

“Come in,”

Kaida interred at the voice of the Hokage, calling through the thick doors, letting them shut behind her, and walking into the Hokage’s study to find the aging man behind his desk. Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were seated in front of him. Kiada rolled her eyes, grateful that her mask hid the scowl on her face. “Hokage-sama, you asked for me?” She asked, kneeling on one knee, keeping a few paces between herself, the Hokage, and his favorite council members, the same council members that agreed with Danzo, the same ones that her Hokage didn’t have the backbone to stand up to.

“Take that mask off, dear, no need for it here,” Homura spoke, turning his eyes on Kiada’s kneeled form, head bowed.

Kaida greeted her teeth, taking a deep breath, not moving an inch at Homura's request. She didn’t take orders from him. She works at the discretion of the Hokage. She didn’t look up at the sound of Homura huffing indignantly at her. She could feel his and Koharu's stern gazes fixed on her.

“Please take that mask off, Kaida, what we have to discuss if off the books,” the Hokage spoke, taking a draw from his pipe. He wanted to see the reaction on her face when he told her of his request knowing she wouldn't like it. The Hokage sighed; he knew full well. She wasn’t fond of him. But he never doubted the girl's loyalty to the village.

Kaida stood, straightening her back. Lifting her hands behind her head, she untied her mask’s crimson strings, pulling it from her face. Lowing the porcelain, she tied the strings around her belt, lowering her arms.

“Kaida, we called you here because of a disturbing finding.”

Kaida stood silently, looking from the Hokage to the two council members. _‘Disturbing findings… Well, that's vague as shit,’_ she thought, keeping her face blank, waiting for one of them to continue.

The Hokage took a deep breath, “We believe there is a traitor in the village… We tasked Kakashi with looking for this traitor before he left on his mission to the waves. He looked around for evidence while he wasn't busy with his kids, and he found disturbing evidence in the Uchiha compound,”

Kaida dug her nails into her palm, focusing on the pain in her hands to keep the shock off her face. This couldn't be happening again, _‘This can’t be happening… Why am I here? Why not call Itachi or Shisui?’_

“Oh, get to the point,” Koharu spat irritation, lacing her tone. They should have done what Danzo suggested, then they would have a spy on the outside, and the Uchiha wouldn't be a problem.

“Your Captain is a traitor, and we want you to kill him,” Homura stated, meeting her gaze, cutting to the real reason they had called her here. There were very few people who could actually go up against Itachi. Two of those people were on the man's team, and out of those people, they had decided Kaida would be the one to follow orders. She wasn’t his family, she was his teammate, and she was a loyal ninja first.

“No!” Kaida yelled, stepping back in shock. Itachi they were talking about killing Itachi. She loved him; she might be angry with him right now and agree that she needed to get over her feelings since he didn’t feel the same. But she wouldn’t kill him. He wasn’t a traitor; he was the most loyal man she had ever met. The people and the things he loved them deeply. More deeply than anything she had ever seen.

“Excuse me...” Koharu narrowed her eyes at thin blue-haired Anbu.

“I said no… Itachi isn’t a traitor… Kakashi is wrong. I don’t know what he found, but he's wrong. It’s someone else. They are trying to set Itachi up,”

“Listen, girl-” Homura started.

“No!... You listen, I’m not killing him…” Kaida growled, standing her ground.

“You are a ninja of Konoha. You are loyal-”

“I’m loyal to Itachi and my family, that’s it,” Kaida declared, not caring what that statement made her sound, “You called me here because there are very few people who can take Itachi on. His father can’t anymore, and you don't know if you can trust his father… Kakashi would have one hell of a time, and even then, Itachi would win, and you know it… Shisui would never kill Itachi. He’d die first… And dear Hokage, you certainly can't because Itachi’s better than you, now. He could kill you if he wanted. Sure it'd be a hard fight, but you would lose. Itachi's smart, smarter than you are giving him credit for... Hell, he thinks like a Hokage and has for years. So you called me... Itachi, trust me, would let his guard down… My fire jutsu gives him a hard time... I know how he fights... But I'm telling you I won't. I’m loyal to this village only because of him and my family. I hate all of you for what you did him,” She spoke calmly and cooly—surprising herself with her honesty.

“He is a traitor,” Homura started glaring at the petite young woman in front of him. Perhaps they had made a miscalculation in calling her. He hadn't thought she would be in love with her Captain. She had seemed like such a reasonable professional. This was disappointing.

Kaida dropped to her knees, bowing her head. They weren’t going to listen to her, if she didn't agree, they would get someone else to do it, and they would have her killed too. The real traitor would get away, and there was a chance Itachi would die. Heart thundering in her chest, she wondered briefly if those in the room could hear it beating so faintly, “Hokage-sama, please let me prove him innocent… You know Itachi. How many talks have you two had privately? He has done so much for this village he would never betray it, he would never-”

“Yes… I do… I believe the decision to kill him is a hasty one. Perhaps we should let Kaida here try and prove him innocent.” the Hokage spoke, taking a long drag from his pipe, eyes fixed on the girl prostate in front of them. Her outburst had surprised him. He had known she hadn’t liked him, but for her to admit, the only reason she remained a loyal ninja was because of Itachi and her family. Well, that was something he needed to think over.

Kiada bit her lip, keeping her tongue, holding her opinions. She didn’t want to hurt Itachi's chances with her temper, any more than she may have already. She kept her head bowed, praying to anyone that would listen that they would listen to her.

“And why would we let you do that, dear?” Koharu asked, one thin eyebrow arched.

Kaida’s mind raced at how best to answer that question, steeling her nerves, “Because I know you three are still protecting Danzo. I’ve been your bodyguard at times, I know many dirty little secrets you wouldn't want getting out, and I'll spill them all… You won’t be able to stop me… Let me prove him innocent. I’ll find the real traitor, and I'll do other of the book missions for you. You don’t have a root anymore,”

The Hokage sighed, looking at the woman on the floor, long braided hair a bright contrast to his red rug. Bowed to them, begging to have the chance to save Itachi's life. Anbu facade gone. He had thought something was going on between the two. The scene in front of him confirmed his suspicion. At least for Kaida’s side. One didn’t make a deal like she was for someone they didn’t love. He just hoped it wasn’t what would end her life. She was proposing a dangerous game. He looked to his council members. Both nodded their heads, he sighed. _‘We should have killed Danzo’_ “You have a deal, my dear… But we will expect reports. You must bring us proof that Itachi is the innocent man you swear he is,”

Kaida lifted her head, sitting back on her heels, “I swear I will… I’ll find who truly is the traitor,” she promised, pushing herself back up so that she was standing.

“You had better find something, girl… Don’t make us regret our deal,” Koharu left the treat hanging, but clear. 

Kaida fisted her hands, willingly calm to show. She wished she had Itachi’s ability to remain so emotionless outwardly. He made it look so effortless, how calm he could stary. She was fighting, going through every mental relaxation technique she knew to keep herself calm. Kaida just nodded her head in response to Koharu’s words, not trusting herself to speak.

“You are dismissed, Kaida,” the Hokage nodded to her.

Kaida bowed her head, fixing to turn stopped by the Hokage’s voice again.

“We will be expecting a report soon,”

Kaida just nodded once again, replacing her mask. Making her way back to large doors, she was going to be late for training.

“Oh, and dear… Don’t be surprised when your sister gets home if she and the kids are a little roughed up. The mission has become a lot more complicated,” Koharu called, stopping Kaida in her tracks. The woman smiled to herself. _‘Little brat,’_ “Though I’m sure they’ll be fine,”

Kaida took a deep breath, not bothering to look back. _‘They will be fine… Keina can take care of herself,’_ she thought before stepping through the doors and making her way out of the house.

**…………**

Kaida sat on a bench in front of her locker in Anbu’s headquarters. The women's barracks were almost empty except for those coming in for duty milling about getting dresses, and those just getting in from mission. Most Captains didn’t keep their teams out for training nearly as long as Itachi did. _‘Damn perfectionist,’_ Kaida thought softly, pulling her tanto from her back, setting it against her locker. Standing, Kaida stretched her arms above her head. Letting out a sigh, she opened up her locker, placing her tanto inside.

“Have a good night Kaida,”

“You off, Aiko?” Kaida asked, turning to see the redhead in a tight black dress.

“Hmm, got a hot date too… Taro’s taking me out. Really, it’s unfair how hot those Uchiha men are,” she grinned, leaning against the lockers.

Kaida raised an eyebrow, _‘Taro is a pig,’_ she thought, trying not to roll her eyes. She still couldn’t believe she had agreed to go on a date with him. She wanted to know what he was up to. Especially after what the Hokage told her. Taro’s behavior just seemed even more suspicious. She rolled her eyes behind her looker door, pulling off her flank vest, folding it up before placing it in her locker. She smiled, eyes catching on a photo taken a few months ago of her and Itachi after practice hanging above a photo of her and Shisui and below one of her sisters. In the picture, she and Itachi were both in their regular ninja clothes. Her arms were around his waist, head against his chest, and his arm was around her shoulder, other arm covering her arms around his waist. They had been out training, and Shisui had been excited about his new camera. Shisui had insisted on taking the photo. She coughed; the stinging pain in her chest surprising her; maybe she was getting a cold.

“I mean, I really need to get laid,” Aiko went on, continuing to tell Kaida about how she hoped her night would go.

She leaned back, throwing the Aiko an unbelieving look, to which she got ignored. _‘I really don’t care about what you are doing tonight, Aiko,’_ Kaida sighed in her head as she went about pulling the rest of her Anbu gear off, placing it in her locker. She sighed, pulling her tight black tank off, trading it for a red crop top she kept in her locker. Grabbing her coat and bag, she let the locker shut.

“Though he’s not really the Uchiha I would like to have in my bed tonight… You’re on a team with Mr. Delicious. Got any advice?” Aiko grinned, giving Kaida a suggestive look.

“No… I don’t know what Captain Uchiha thinks,” Kaida answered, shrugging on her coat and hoisted her bag over her shoulder,

“Oh please, that's not what I hear... Itachi-kun isn’t a man of many words, is he?” Aiko hummed herself, hand on her hip.

Kaida snorted, “Nope, but have fun tonight, Aiko… I’ve gotta go,” Kaida dipped her head at the curvy redhead making her way out of the women barkers, ignoring her comment. She knew about the rumor milling about Anbu. You wouldn't think such an elite group gossiped like schoolgirls, but they did. Kaida sighed, pulling long hair free from its thick braid to pull it up into a high ponytail. She quickly made her way down the hall. Hand raised to her chest at the fluttering there, when she felt Itachi’s presence. She looked up to find Itachi at the end of the hall leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. “Captain, is something wrong?” she asked, stopping in her tracks, staring at Itachi. He had his hair untied, hanging loosely around his face, no headband pushing his bangs back. She sucked in a breath at his relaxed posture, broad shoulders leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets: one long leg bent, foot placed against the wall.

“No… Kaida,” Itachi answered by pushing off the wall moving closer to her, eyes looking her over. She looked tired. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking to me in my office?”

Kaida sighed, listening to Itachi’s husky voice as he spoke to her. She tilted her head up as he moved closer to her, blue eyes looking up to his. She sighed, looking away from the soft look in his dark eyes. It wasn’t fair when he looked at her like that, “Yeah,” she agreed. They walked side by side to Itachi's office. Itachi opened his door, letting Kaida in first, watching as she moved across his office, letting her bag drop to the floor as she curled up on his couch.

“So, what do you want to talk about, Captain?” Kaida asked, twisting one leg under her as she made herself comfortable on the couch, leaning back into the sofa.

“Itachi...”

“What?”

“Stop calling me Captain… You haven’t called me by my name in a week,” He stood up abruptly, hands moving through his hair as he paced around the room. Muscles pulled taut in his back and arms. He sighed, stalking back over to her sitting beside her again, “I miss hearing you say my name,”

“It bothers you that I haven’t used your name?” Kaida asked, trying to ignore the pain in her chest. It was getting worse all day, and now she could barely breathe. It didn’t help that Itachi was now sitting so close to her. Talking to her in that husky voice of his. “I thought you didn’t care… You said-”

“I didn’t mean what I said,” he interrupted, leaning his forearms against his knees. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back.

“And what exactly did you mean… It seems pretty clear to me… You said our feelings aren’t real,”

“What do you feel for me, Kaida?” Itachi asked, head against his hand, forearms still balanced on his legs. Dark eyes connecting with her light blue once. The hurt in them was suffocating. He wanted to reach out and hold her. He just wanted to see that look out of her eyes.

“I’m leaving,” Kaida said as she started to push herself up, only to be stopped by Itachi. One hand on her leg, the other on her arm. She took a deep breath, eyes locking back on his dark ones.

“Please? Just… Just answer my question,” he asked, pulling his hands back, missing the fill of her warm skin under his hand. He sighed, leaning back into the cushions.

“Why?”

“Kaida,”

She sucked in a breath at the way her name came out on his husky voice. He had never spoken her name like that before. Like it was a prayer that would fix his problems. Kaida sighed, “I could give you a long explanation, but I’m tired…” she wrapped her arms around herself, “It's simpler just to say I love you… I don’t love you like a friend, or like family… I love how kind you are. I think it's adorable how shy you are. That's why you don't talk much, not because you think you're better than anyone. You want to make this world a better place... Your heart is so big... You would do anything for your little brother… I love how patient and passionate you are, how much you keep me guessing. Your dry sense of humor is a godsend on a bad day, and you can always make me laugh. I love our long talks when we talk about the different books you have read. God, Itachi, I know so much about you, so much, and even the things that drive me crazy. Like how insanely protective you are, I love that too... I just love you,” she sighed, holding Itachi's intense gaze as she spoke.

Itachi reached over, taking her hand in his, lacing their fingers together, holding tight. He couldn’t say anything for a long time. He just kept his gaze on their linked hands, taking in the contrast between their skin tones. Itachi took a deep breath, willing his heart to slow down. Its wild beating was loud, loud enough he could hear it in his ears.

Kaida watched him, heart thundering in her chest. He wasn’t looking at her, just looking at their hands, intense dark eyes unblinking. _‘Our friendship is over… You should have just lied, Kaida,’_ she thought, staring at his blank face. Knowing him for years, knowing his every tell, couldn’t help her right now. There was no emotion on his face. “I understand if you don’t feel the same, Itachi-”

“I…It’s not that, Kaida,” Itachi finally spoke, prompted by Kaida trying to pull her hand from his. His voice came out gravely, deeper as he spoke, tightening his hand, not letting Kaida pull away. Turning dark eyes back on her, he sucked in a breath at seeing all the emotion out of her light eyes. He tried to take a deep breath through the sudden sharp pain in his chest. Pushing the pain out of his mind, he focused on Kaida. Shisui was right, he needed to be honest, or he would lose her for good. “I do care about you, Kaida… A lot, but I don’t know… I need time to work out exactly how,”

“Okay,” Kaida sighed, eyes slipping closed. Her eyes snapped open as muscular arms wrapped around her pulling her into a broad, muscular chest. Kaida sighed, burying her face into the warmth of Itachi’s chest, breathing in his claiming scent, curling into his chest as he pulled her closer. Just needing to be held by him for a few minutes.

“Don’t pull away from me, Kaida, please… Just give me some time…” Itachi pleaded, pulling her closer to his chest as she wound her arms around his neck; he sighed at the feeling of full lips against his bare neck.

“You should hurry up, genius… I’m not waiting forever,” she murmured against the skin of his neck. Trying to push out the douts from her mind. Douts that he would love.

“Are you still going on a date with Taro?” Itachi asked after a few minutes, tilting his head down to look at Kaida, lip brushing against her hair.

“Yeah…” she sighed, voice thick, sighing heavily Kaida wiggled, settling more into Itachi’s chest, “Itachi, I’m not going because I like him… Don’t you think it’s weird he’s interested in me?”

“No,”

“Think about it… How long has he known me through you? Only recently has he started speaking to me, flirting with me… Something’s up… I just want to know what it is,”

“You could just let me ask if-”

“He hates you, Itachi… He likes the fact you don’t like it when he hits on me… It’s one date. I just want to know what his deal is,”

“Just watch it… I don’t trust him,” Itachi sighed, relenting.

“I could kick his ass…”

"You could… How was your meeting with the Hokage?” Itachi asked, hand rubbing up and down Kaida’s back. When she didn’t answer after a few beats, Itachi tilted his head down, tangling his hand in hair light hair to cup the back of her head to tilt her head back enough to see her face. “Kaida?” he asked quietly, finding her breathing softy lip parted, eyes closed.

“Mm tired Itachi,” She mumbled, twisting to bury her face back against his neck, with a sigh.

Itachi just smiled to himself, pulling Kaida on top of his body as he laid back on the couch, stretching out with his arms around Kiada’s waist. Itachi sighed, breathing easily for the first time in days, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: The Bridge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've had many things happen, and just now, things are getting back to where I have time for writing.
> 
> As always, we do not own Naruto or any of the characters or storylines.
> 
> We are backwith Team 7 and Keina.  
> Ages:  
> Shisui: 22  
> Kaida, Itachi, and Keina: 19  
> Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kin, Kuma, and Kanon: 13  
> Kakashi: 28

The light from the moon cast long darkened shadows on the already dark ground. The slanting rays of the setting moon gave an eerie tinge to the sky and ground. Keina sighed, leaning on the counter of Tazuna’s kitchen. Hands wrapped around a steaming mug of green tea; light eyes focused on the window. She could hear the sound of the ocean hitting the shore, _‘So loud_.’ She wondered how the people here could stand it, the constant noise.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Keina turned her head at the deep voice coming from the doorway. Just a few weeks with the man, and she was getting used to his voice. She was sure she could pick his voice out of a crowd of people. Tucking a strand of loose hair falling from her bun behind her ear, she locked eyes with the tall white-haired man. Finding his face covered with that _‘Stupid mask’_ even with his sleep clothes on. However, his headband was off, leaving his Sharingan eyes exposed. _‘What a strange man,’_ she thought, bringing her mug up to take a sip.

“What’s got you up so late?” He asked again, taking up the seat in front of her, hunching over to prop his head on his hand, eyes taking in the woman in front of him. She was still in her work clothes. Long kimono crumbled from her day working in the village, light blue hair falling from a bun he knew was tighter at one point. Long locks were starting to escape the confines of the bun falling down into her face. He had more watched her these past few weeks and had noticed even more differences between the soft-spoken medic and her twin that went beyond the slight difference in their appearances. Like, the fact that Keina could show just as much fire as her sister when it came to the wellbeing of her patients. She was just as smart as Kaida. But were her sister was a wildfire, Keina honestly reminded him a little more of the wind. Keina was a lot more laid back than Kaida. Something he had noticed right away, what he hadn't noticed right away was how it bled into her manners. Kaida was always moving, always doing something. He honestly didn’t know how Kaida didn’t drive Itachi insane with her impulsive shit. Despite having the skills to back it up. Keina was a lot different from her sister. She took her time to think things over, would sit and drink tea in the morning just watching the sunrise.

“Couldn’t I ask you the same thing? You should be resting… You’ve been training your little genin in the forest. I hope you aren’t straining yourself,” Keina replied, taking a sip from her steaming cup, looking back over at the man from the corner of the eyes. She hadn’t missed the once over he had given her. She was a big girl, not one of his kids, though he was the leader of this mission. So, his question wasn’t entirely unwarranted. He needed to know what condition his team was in.

“No, mama… Just teaching them some tree climbing,” Kakashi smiled through his mask eyes slipping closed. He enjoyed talking to the younger medic. She was smart and never pushed as the other medics did. She also never seemed scared of his eyes, though he wondered if that had to with her families dealing with the Uchiha family.

“Is that what’s keeping you up?” she asked, turning back to the older man with one eyebrow arched. She was interested in how the training was going. Honestly, she couldn’t see these training exercises going particularly well. Kakashi was surprisingly an amazing teacher, in her opinion. Well, that was when he was putting in the effort and not half-assing it. He knew what his kids needed, though. She had to wonder if he truly knew how to help Sakura. She was sure he could help Naruto and Sasuke, and even help Sakura with being a ninja. However, Sakura’s problem was more of a maturity one that most men didn’t understand.

“No… They’re doing as I expected… Sakura has the best control, though she doesn’t have much chakra… Naruto and Sasuke are having trouble… Though they did manage to climb the tree,”

“They stayed out all day… Staying out that long, pushing themselves so hard isn’t something to be praised… They could damage their chakra network putting so much strain on it in one day…,” Keina reprimanded, not like the praising tone of his voice. Naruto and Sasuke were young and stupid, in her opinion. _'They could do so much damage to themselves so easily. With no supervision… They don’t know when enough is enough,'_ she thought, shaking her head. She sighed, taking a sip of her tea, thinking over his words. The boys truly were best at attacking, Sakura not so much she was better left hanging back for now, _‘If she has good chakra control… Then with that mind of hers, I bet she could make a good medic,’_

“They push each other to do better… Their rivalry is good,” Kakashi’s eyes widen slightly as he sat back. He hadn’t expected to be reprimanded by the medic. Though he’d have to admit he wasn’t angry about it. She was right; pushing the chakra network that much wasn’t good for them. He would step in if he needed to. Naruto was his sensei’s son. He made a promise to keep an eye on the boy and Sasuke. Itachi might just kill him if he let something happen to Sasuke.

Keina snorted, sitting her tea down, raising her gaze back to Kakashi, “Sure... Until it goes too far, there’s a fine line Kakashi…” she stopped at the glassy look in Kakashi’s eyes. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying each other company. Keina sighed, breathing in deeply, wondering what was going through Kakashi’s mind. The man was so quiet. He hadn’t said a word since she had mentioned the rivalry between the boys going too far. _‘That look in his eyes… I could have sworn,’_ she sighed, taking another deep breath when the man in front of her didn’t say anything, she spoke again, needing to feel the silence, “What do you think about the boy that looked like a girl Naruto saw in the forest? Don’t you think it’s a bit strange given how the rest of the village is acting?”

“I do… Then again, it could be nothing,” Kakashi shrugged, rolling his shoulders as he straightened up. Her assessment was spot on. He was worried himself about the rivalry going sour and turning into a major headache. Kakashi sighed, turning his head to look out the window, mind wandering to years ago to a team that was so much like his own. Blinking, he pushed haunting memories to the back of his mind turning his attention back to Keina.

“Ture… Want to tell me what’s got you up? I’m a medic,” Keina offered. She truly believed in a healthy mental state despite the rest of the medics back at home. Their people needed healthy coping skills.

“What’s keeping you up? You should be sleeping too, up before dawn, to treat the villagers… Not back till the sun is down,” he shot back, eyebrows raised in challenge. He might trust the women enough actually to listen to her and let her treat him, but he currently didn’t trust her enough to bring up those dark memories. "Want to tell me why you're avoiding our client as much as possible?"

“Nightmares...” Keina replied honestly, trailing off as the dark memories came flooding back. She had seen herself and Kaida, but they had looked different. The dream made her think they were in the warring states era. It had been so strange. She had seen Kaida with a different version of Itachi. Kaida and Itachi were married in her dream with two daughters. The dream had ended so violently.

Kakashi blinked, caught off guard slightly at the honest tone of the women in front of him. He hadn’t expected such an honest reply. He sure hadn’t ever gotten one from her sister. No, her sister had only thrown out a smartass comment when he had tried to check on her. He usually responded with his own smart-ass comment, only serving to piss the little hot-headed firecracker off, which left Itachi to intervene before a fight started. Kakashi had spoken more than once to his former teammate about his subordinate’s manners, only to be dismissed by the Uchiha heir. Kakashi sighed, remembering Itachi words in defense of the girl, _‘She keeps her head fine… I’m her Captain. Don’t worry about if something wrong with Dragon. I’ll take care of it’_. Kakashi sighed again. Itachi had in a few short calm words made the whole exchange seem like his fault, and he had briefly wondered if it was. But then he had caught Itachi speaking to Kaida far enough away that the rest of their team couldn’t see or hear them. He knew they hadn’t heard him, hadn’t even known he was there because they wouldn’t have stayed in each other arms. He can honestly say he never expected to find Itachi, his old teammate, a teammate he thought didn’t know anything remotely about girls despite his intelligence. Holding one the way he had been, and Kaida. She was curled up in his arms, completely calm and collected. He had to admit it bothered him the way Itachi defended her. It wasn’t proper for a Captain to be having a relationship of any kind with a subordinate. Kakashi whished they’d make rules against it. Kakashi's eyes snapped down to the counter at the sound of nails drumming on the top of the tail. “You’re not in sleep clothes…” he said, coving his shock at Keina’s honest reply and subsequent wandering mind. Hoping she hadn’t noticed that he had gone off on his own train of thought in the middle of a conversation.

She shrugged a shoulder at his remark. The villagers were sick, so many needed medical aid that she was out late every night. Last night had been no different, “Didn’t change just went to bed… You?”

“Hmmm, So, what happens in your dreams?” Kakashi asked. He hadn't missed the look that passed through her eyes—reminding him so much of himself when he'd wake from his hellish nightmares. He had caught a glimpse of the look in Kaida’s eyes, but she was Anbu. _‘Why would Keina have that look… Did something happen?’_ he wondered. Kakashi sighed, now the woman wouldn't look him in the eyes.

“Lots… It’s just a lot… You?” she sighed, looking down at the cooling liquid in her cup.

“Same…” Kakashi sighed, looking out the window, "So… Why the avoiding?"

Keina chuckled softly, looking up from her tea, "I was hoping you'd let that slide...”

"I have for the past few weeks… I can usually read people easily enough. I have to say I can't figure out why you're avoiding him,"

"You've worked with my sister," Keina stated, eyes looking back out the window. The sun’s rays were just starting to peak in the sky. _‘Have we been up that long?’_

"Lovely girl," Kakashi commented dryly, eyes rolling at the mention of the living headache that was Keina sister.

"She can be…" Kenia smiled, catching his dry tone. She had a feeling Kakashi wasn't to find of her sister, not that many people were, "I'm sure you noticed how Kaida feels about alcohol…"

"Itachi had to stop her from breaking a man's hand on one mission… For someone so smart, she does amazingly stupid things at times."

"She told me about that… The man was beating his daughter…” Keina sighed. Itachi had stopped Kaida from intervening any further than she had. They had been on a mission, “Our father was a drunk… He… Did lots of things, including hitting our sisters. He was never brave enough to raise his hand to Kaida or me. We kicked him out,”

Kakashi remained quiet for a long time, eyes focus on the curvy woman seated in front of him, “I... I never knew,”

“No, you wouldn’t… I just don’t like drinking… Neither does my sister,”

“I understand…” Kakashi nodded, folding his hands so he could prop his chin on his folded hands. Glancing out the window, he sighed, “The sun will be rising in a few hours,”

**……..**

The walk to the bridge was a peaceful one for once this morning, Kakashi hadn’t been bombarded by questions by his walking bubble gum personification of a student. He hadn’t had to intervene in any argument between Sasuke and Naruto. Mostly due to Naruto still being asleep. Tazuna hadn’t spoken all morning. His talk with Keina this morning had been nice. Though getting, he had to admit he was shocked when they arrived.

“Sasuke, Sakura gets ready… Protect the bridge builder,” Kakashi ordered, eyes scanning the scene in front of him. The bridge workers’ bodies lay strewn out across the bridge blood, spattering the bridge’s hard surface. _'I knew he was still alive. He just couldn’t wait till round two… I didn’t think he would go for tactics like this thought,’’_

“Kakashi Sensei… Its Zabuza isn’t this is his Hidden Mist Jutsu, right?!” Sakura called to her sensei, backing up closer to Sasuke head turning back and forth as the thick mist rolled up onto the bridge from the ocean.

Kakashi tensed eyes cutting back to his students briefly before sliding over to the bridge builder. Sakura was visibly various, and Sasuke’s hand was trembling.

“Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi… I see you still got those brats with you… that one’s still trembling pitiful,”

Kakashi didn’t relax at the sound of the disembodied voice coming from the thick mist surrounding them. Muscles coiling tighter as clones surrounded them. His left eye cutting over back to Sasuke, who was smirking, head tilted to the side.

“I’m trembling with excitement,” Sasuke smirked, reaching into his ninja pouch.

“Go on, Sasuke,” Kakashi smirked under his masked head tilting forward, giving his student permission to attack.

Sasuke smirked, gripping his kunai tightly jumping, in with a twist, the clones were dissolved into the water they were made form.

“So, you can see they were water clones… Look like you’ve got a rivel Haku,”

“So, it seems.” Haku comment, not moving an inch, taking in the pale boy in front of him. It was most impressive that he knew they were water clones, but could he last in a long-term fight that required more of him.

**……**

Kenia looked up from the little girl she was treating as Sakura rushed into the tent. She raised an eyebrow at the panicked look on Sakura’s face. “What’s wrong? What’s got Kakashi got you using a clone for?” she asked, turning back to her patient, focusing her attention back on wrapping the child arm in the white bandages. The boils on the small girl’s arm were quite concerning. This kind of thing was rare to see in the leaf, but here. Here she saw infected boils as much as she saw seagulls.

“You have to come to the bridge… RIGHT NOW!”

Keina smiled, tying the bandage on the small girl’s arm, “She’s funny, isn’t she…? Such a squeaky voice like a mouse,” she whispered, laughing along with the little child. Keina kept the smile in place on her face till the child was out of the tent before rounding on the fuming pink-haired genin. “Never scream in a medic tent again unless you want to be one of my patients,”

“Zabuza is attacking… They are going to die-”

“I’m going to stop you right there…” Keina held up a hand, halting the small girl in her tracks, “Kakashi had you make a clone, right? He wouldn’t let the bridge builder be left alone,”

“Yes,”

“I’m sure everyone is fine. Your sensei is stronger. Stronger than you know, and your teammates are surprising… That being said, let’s go,”

Sakura turned and raced out of the tent fast as she could. Keina sighed, eyes rolling up. Grabbing her medic bag, she turned, running after the small girl. They race through the village, hopping from rooftop to rooftop till they made it to the tree line taking to the trees. Keina let out a sigh of relief when Sakura stopped just before getting to the bridge waiting on her. _‘Thank god this one has enough sense not to rush in a hostile situation,’_

Keina couched eyes, assessing the fight on the bright as the clone at her side proofed away. From what she could see, the Kakashi was fighting Zabuza still. Her eyes found Naruto standing watching his sensei. _‘Good, they’re okay,’_ she thought, eyes scanning the bridge for the pink and dark blue-black locks of Sakura and Sasuke. Looking for Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna, Keina sucked in a breath at finding them. In a flash, she was crouched down on the opposite side of the picket. Light eyes were glancing up at the bridge builder and nodding to the old man when he did, just screaming at her sudden appearance.

Sakura hiccupped, green eyes filling with tears as she looked at Sasuke’s face, “His body cold. This isn’t one of his genjutsu tricks, is it?”

Tazuna looked down at the crying girl, not knowing if he should reach out and try to hold her like he would his daughter, “Go ahead and let your feeling out,” he said, eyes landing on the elder ninja across form the girl. Keina was crouched, face completely calm. _‘What do they do to these ninjas that the elder once can look at a dead child and feel nothing?’_

Lifting a hand to Sasuke cold cheek, Sakura started to speaking again, “You know I was the best… I aced every test at the academy… There are over one hundred principals of conduct for ninja. Do you know the twenty-fifth?”

“Sakura… I know you are upset, but you nee-” Keina started trying to be gentle with the civilian born girl. She took a deep breath to ignore the dirty look the bridge build was throwing her about to start again when Sakura interrupted her.

“A Shinobi never shows his emotions… No matter what. Felling are a weakness that only hinder the sense of duty,”

Keina sighed as the small girl broke down, crying, throwing herself across Sasuke’s chest. ‘Great, now I can’t assess him at all,’ Keina took a calming breath thing of the best way to calm the wailing child. _‘Sasuke can’t be dead,’_ she thought, praying to God that Itachi little brother hadn’t just died on his first mission out of the village that she was a part of. _‘Itachi’s going to kill Kakashi,’_ she thought, reaching a glowing hand up to Sasuke’s head to check for brain activity. “Sakura…” she started trying to talk to the wailing child, “I need to check on him… Will, you let me,”

“Is he dead,” Tazuna asked when Sakura didn’t respond to Keina’s prompting just continued to cry louder. It didn’t make any sense to him why the medic wanted to check on the dead.

“Just because he’s cold and you can’t feel a pulse doesn’t mean anything… I need to check on him,” Keina spoke, voice level, eyes focused as she consented on keeping her chakra steady. _‘He had steady brain activity,’_ she thought, letting her chakra blink out, moving her hand down to his neck. _‘There,’_ she thought, _‘The pulse is light,’_ but it’s there. Some untrained wouldn’t be about to feel it. “Sakura,” she started softly, trying to get the girl to listen to her.

“Sakura… It’s hard to breathe with you on top of me,”

Keina eyes shot back up to Sasuke’s face at hearing his strained voice. The boy was looking at Sakura, who was now thankfully sitting up. Sasuke eyes were barely open. _‘None of these needles are hitting anything vital… What’s causing this?’_

Sakura stained at Sasuke, stunned, “Tazuna… Keina… He’s alive,” she cried, throwing herself back on top of Sasuke.

“Sakura, that hurts,”

“All right up, Sakura… You can hug him later. Let me treat him,” Keina ordered, pushing the small girl off Sasuke. “Stay still, dumb ass,” she hissed, forcing the young boy back down, “Sakura, remove the needles while I assess him,” she ordered, glowing hand hovering over his chest, then moving up to his head again. With a sigh, she went about healing the small needle wounds. “Okay, you can get up,”

Sasuke groaned, pushing himself up with the aid of his pink-haired teammate, “How is Naruto? And what happened to that guy in the mask?”

“Naruto’s just fine... But the one in the mask he’s dead,” Sakura answered hands supporting Sasuke’s back as he took a few deep breaths.

“How? Did Naruto do it,”

Keina leaned back on her heels, watching the interaction between Sakura and Sasuke. To some degree, the exchange reminded her of her sister and Itachi. Expect for the fact that Itachi rarely raised his voice to her sister. Itachi respected her sister. She didn’t believe Sasuke respected anyone. Her sister would never be caught dead acting the way Sakura was a few minutes ago. Keina sighed, watching the cold look take over Sasuke's face when Sakura shook her head as she answered.

“Oh, I don’t know I came in late I came late I’m not sure what happened he was protecting Zabuza,” Sakura answered, hands patting his shouldered, refiled filling her that he was okay, “I had faith in you Sasuke… I knew you are to cool of a guy to stay down for long,”

Keina rolled her eyes at Sakura’s comment, _‘Its words coming out of her mouth like that make me question her intelligence,’_ she thought, eyes cutting back to the boding boy. That cold dark look in his eyes reminded her of his father. It was the same dark calculating look she had seen in his father’s eyes many times over the year. Sasuke couldn’t be more different from his brother if you asked her. _‘He’s just like his father,’_ Keina sighed, pushing herself up to her full height joining the children in standing up. With one patient treated, she turned her attention to the bridge, scanning the large mass of stone for Naruto and Kakashi. She found them quite a few passes away. From what she could see, Kakashi was crouched, with Naruto standing slightly in front of him. ‘Is that Zabuza lying in front of them?’

“Naruto,” Sakura yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth, “Over here look its Sasuke he’s alright... He’s alright!!”

Keina sighed, unable to stop her eyes from rolling, _‘Yes, let’s yell, while we are still possible in danger,’_ she grumbled in her mind slinging her bag up. She couldn’t help the smile that came to her face at the relived look on Naruto’s face.

Kakashi turned his head looking back, finding Keina standing next to Tazuna, Sakura, and the revived Sasuke, “Well, well will wonder never cease… amazing.”

Naruto and Kakashi turned their heads back at the sound of weapons banging on the bridge.

“Don’t get too comfortable who’s going to pay us now… Well, just have to hit that village.”

Kakashi sighed, eyeing the mob of thieves, “Not good,”

“Come on, Kakashi-sensei, you much have a jutsu to take them on,” Naruto exclaimed, turning to his sensei fist raised.

“I used too much chakra,” Kakashi explained, forcing his tired body up. He turned his head, feeling a presence at his side. “Keina, you’re our medic,”

“Yeah… I can still fight,” Keina remarked, eyes quickly running up and down Kakashi body, assessing him, “You’ve used too much chakra... Much more, and you’re liable to end up bedridden for a few days,” she commented dryly, pulling a kunai from her pouch.

Kakashi sighed, preparing to fight the thieves running their way. Only for the hoard running towards them to be stopped by an arrow dropping out of the sky in the space between them. Kakashi, Keina, and Naruto turned their head back look for the who shot the arrow—finding the villagers armed with weapons, kitchen utensils, and gardening tools, being led by the little boy Inari.

Keina smiled, joining Naruto and Kakashi in making shadow clones to join the fight. She had couldn’t help the small bark of laughter that slipped through at seeing the thieves turn tail and run back to their boat—fleeing as fast as they could.


	14. Chapter Fourteen:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back with Kaida, Itachi, and Shisui.

Shisui shut the door quietly behind him, taking in the scene in front of him. He certainly hadn't expected to find Itachi on the couch asleep with Kiada. They hadn’t even moved, which was unlike both of them. They were light sleepers, usually up at the slightest sound, thanks to their ninja training. But there they were, wrapped up in each other arms, still sound asleep on the couch. Shisui rolled his eyes, looking at the pair. Kaida was on top of Itachi, legs on either side of his waist, head tucked against his neck, while her arms were warped around Itachi’s neck. Itachi was laid on his back, arms around Kiada’s waist, hands sliding up her scared bareback, long legs hanging off the couch. Shisui shook his head at hearing Itachi sigh in his sleep, turning his head, burying his nose in Kiada’s hair, tightening his arms around her. Grinning to himself, he quietly pulled his camera out of his bag, snapping a quick picture of the two, _‘Oh, this is great,’_ he snickered, carefully putting his camera back up.

Silently Shisui made his way over to the couch, sitting down on the table in front of it. He really couldn’t believe these two were still asleep. _‘They’re lucky I found them.’_ Rolling his eyes, _‘Don’t see a reason in waking them up, no ones going to come looking for Itachi right now… I’ll just tell people he’s busy,’_ Shisui thought, coming up with what he could say to give his friends some more time together. He was sure they’d be up soon. Silently he heaved himself up and made his way out of the office without a sound.

It was about a half-hour later that Itachi blinked awake. He smiled, looking down at the beautiful woman still asleep on top of him. He had woken from the best sleep he had had in the few years. He was laid there just watching Kiada sleep in his arms. He sighed, pulling her long ponytail away from her face letting her long hair slip into the small space between them and the back of the couch. Hopefully, it won't get pulled. Moving his hand back to stroke her cheek, he studied her face. She looked so calm and content laying in his arms. He could see her long thick lashes, her full lips that not long ago had been pressed against him. He sighed, remembering the way his heart had sped up, the warmth that had filled his chest at having her so close. His skin had felt like fire where her lips touched. Stroking her cheek, his eyes caught on the small scar on her forehead, close to her hairline. She had gotten the small scar on a mission when they were younger. That blow to her head had made his heart stop for a breath. She had killed the man who dealt it in the next. Itachi sighed, her warmth feeling him as Kaida wiggled closer to him, mumbling his name. He closed his eyes, pressing her closer as he buried his nose in her hair. Breathing in her scent, enjoying the extra few moments he had of holding her, “Kaida,” Itachi called softly, not wanting to wake the peacefully sleeping beauty on his chest. Still, they couldn’t just lay like this all day. They both had jobs to do. Itachi sighed as Kaida blinked up at him, light eyes connecting with his own. Ice filled him where warmth once was when she pushed herself away from him, standing up. He sucked in a breath as the sharp pain from last night returned to his chest. He wanted to pull Kaida closer again just to make it go away. For whatever reason, he couldn’t figure out, yet she made it go away. Just having her close, knowing she was happy, made the pressure in his chest release. _‘I think about her all the time; I love being near her, holding her is… Is this romantic love?'_

“Did you hold me all night?” she asked, heat rising to her cheeks, burning her face like the flames she was so fond of using in battle. Looking down at Itachi’s wrinkled clothes, Kaida huffed out a small laugh. The man just sat there, staring up at her. Kaida sighed. She couldn’t place the strange expression on his face. It was somewhere between pain and contentment. “You should have just woken me up, Itachi… Your father is probably pissed at you-”

“Don’t worry, Kaida, my father knows I’m busy,” Itachi smiled gently at Kaida, standing as well. He looked down at her as she bit her lower lip. She was pulling her full lip between her teeth, turning it red. Itachi didn't miss the light dusting of pink at her cheeks as Kaida glanced at the wall. Itachi’s eyes softened. Lifting his hand, he brushed stray hairs out of her face, not missing the fact that his touch brought more pink to her cheeks. “Don’t worry so much, Kaida… My father isn’t as bad of a man as you think,”

“I don’t like how he treats you,” she sighed with a shake of her head. Rolling her shoulders, she started to take a step back from Itachi. Intent on putting as much space between them as possible after their late-night conversation.

Itachi quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. Wanting to feel her warmth again, “Kaida…. I’m sorry about yesterday. I meant to apologize to you last night… I should have never spoken to you that way. You deserve my respect, not petty jealousy,”

“I shouldn’t have gotten angry either… I-”

“Have every right to go on a date with whoever you want… It’s my problem if I don’t like it, not yours… I'm sorry for acting that way towards you,” Itachi interrupted, dark eyes holding Kaida’s gaze as hands reached for her pulling her to his chest. Itachi breathed out, burying his nose in her hair when she fit herself against his chest. She was much shorter than him now, only coming up to his chest right under his collar bone. He smiled, pressing his lips to the top of her head. He smiled, hearing her sharp intake of breath, his chest expanding easily. It filled him with pride, knowing he could get a reaction like that out of her so quickly. “I am sorry, Kaida, I will never speak to you like that again,”

Kaida sighed, winding her arms around Itachi's waist, enjoying his warmth, enjoying the peacefulness his presence brought, “Damn right,” she mumbled into his chest.

“Kaida...” Itachi whispered, hand tangling in her hair.

Kaida sucked in a shaky breath, pulling back at the sound of her name coming from Itachi. His voice was already husky. It wasn't fair how sexy his voice sounded, how much his voice affected her, especially when he whispered like that, “I… I should get changed… We have guard duty around the village today,” Kaida said, hand tapping with a little more force than she meant against Itachi’s chest. Hoping to god above that, her face was as red as it felt.

Itachi sighed, hands tightening around her biceps, pulling her gently back. _‘She isn’t leaving till we are clear,’_ he thought, dark eyes connecting with her shining blue one. _‘I thought she could read me better than this,’_ “I meant what I said,” he started, hands sliding up to cup her face, “I do care about you… More than you know… Just give me some time… Please?”

Kaida sucked in a breath, taking in the intense look deep in his eyes. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Not anymore, so much time of this hot and cold with him. Where he seems to care so much one minute then pulls away. Taking a deep breath, “I’m not going to wait for years, or months Itachi. You either love me, or you don’t,” Kaida shrugged, pulling away from him. She sighed, grabbing her things, “You need to figure that out,” she finished locking eyes with him once more before stepping out of his office.

Itachi sighed, dropping back down on his couch, leaning forward, head in his hands. _‘What am I going to do?’_ he thought, running his hands through his hair, thinking of different possibilities in his head.

“What licked the red of your candy?” Shisui laughed at the glare directed at him. “What's wrong with you? Hmm, trouble with the Misses again…” he asked, moving through the office, ignoring the dark look Itachi cast at him as he leaned back on the desk. “And here I thought you too made up. Looked so cozy together sleeping on the couch-”

“What?” Itachi asked, interrupting his cousin, stalking closer to the older man. _‘There’s no way I missed anyone coming in my office this morning,’_

Shisui laughed at the look on Itachi’s face. It wasn’t often he could catch the man off guard, and he was relishing this. _‘Oh, bless you, little firecracker,’_ he thought, reaching into his pocket, pulling the photograph he had taken out this morning. “Oh, you two were sound asleep. Even took this,”

Itachi’s hand swiped up, quickly snatching the photo out of Shisui's hand, and in the next second, he was seated behind his desk. Looking down at the picture of Kaida and himself asleep. Itachi let out a soft sigh gazing at the photo, “Do I have that look on my face a lot,”

Shisui sighed, turning around, looking down at his cousin. _‘I’ve seen this coming for years. You’d think with how smart he is, I wouldn’t have so hard of a time getting him to figure it out,’_ he thought, watching the way Itachi’s eyes softened, and his whole body relaxed. “Only when you're around her… Or thinking about her,”

“What am I supposed to do?…” Itachi asked, holding the photo gently in his hand as he looked up, eyes locking with his cousins, the pain in his chest was so sharp now, “You know what my father expects me to choose,”

“Who do you want, Itachi? It's that simple, and this is your life… Your smart,”

Itachi’s gaze drifted back down to the photo, still gently clasped in his hand. She looked so peaceful, sleeping there with him. The way it felt to hold her like that was still fresh in his mind, warmth, peace like they were meant to be together.

**….**

“You know it's a little creepy that you're hiding in the shadows watching her,” Shisui said, appearing beside Itachi’s in the shadows.

“She knows I’m here,” came Itachi's clipped reply leaning against the wall, eyes fixed on Kaida form, where she stood talking to Taro just in the tree line. The evening sun was casting long shadows of trees on the ground. Their guard duty had just ended for the day. Itachi had intended to catch Kaida on her way into headquarters. Seeing if she wanted to grab some dinner with him and Shisui, but he had found her speaking to Taro again.

“Doesn't make it any weirder, Itachi... You've been doing this the past few days,”

Itachi just shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to move his gaze from Kaida’s petite form, “I think our team could do more out of the village,” Itachi committed, pushing off the wall he was leaning against next to Shisui.

Shisui bit his lip to keep himself from snorting, still hidden in the shadows outside headquarters. Watching Taro make his way into the training ground reserved for the Anbu. “Is that so, Captain… Would this have something to do with your little revelation a few mornings ago?”

“I’ll kill you, Shisui,”

“You love me too much; besides, Kaida would be upset her adopted brother was dead,” he snickered, catching the hard-dark eyes turned his way. “So… when are you going to tell the little firecracker you're in love with her too?”

“When our next mission is done.”

“Sure... I’m sure you will,” Shisui snickered, “Wait… What mission? Hey, where are you going,” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Itachi's retreating form. Shisui sighed, rolling his eyes when he didn’t get an answer. Shrugging his shoulders, Shisui started making his way inside to change.

“See if there are any missions for us… See if Kaida wants dinner I’ll meet you all in an hour…” Itachi spoke softly back to Shisui before ultimately disappearing into the shadows of the evening sun, heading back to the Hokage tower.

Anbu mask still in place, Itachi moved through the village, hopping from rooftop to rooftop till they finally made it to the Hokage residence. Crouching on the window sill of the Hokage’s office, Itachi knocked softly. It wasn’t uncommon for Anbu to visit this way. Itachi waved to the Anbu on duty before sliding the window up with a nod from the Hokage, giving him permission to inter.

“Itachi, it’s late… To what do I owe this visit?” The Hokage asked, looking up from his work.

“Hokage-sama, I would like to talk to you about my team,”

The Hokage set his work down, turning his full attention on the man in front of him. “Yes?” he asked, keeping his voice level. Itachi was one of his brightest and most talented ninjas. One of his ninjas, his council, was forcing him to investigate, despite his own personal beliefs on the matter.

“Two of them have been sent out on solo missions while the rest of my team and I have mainly been assigned to guard duty within the village… Our skill isn’t best for this,” Itachi stated, getting straight to the point. Having no desire to have this conversation longer than necessary.

“I make those decisions,”

“We would do you well-taking missions that our skill can be put to better use. There are plenty of ninjas to defend the village,”

The Hokage looked at the young man kneeling in front of him for a long time. Never had Itachi requested a mission before. The man had always taken the assignment given, rarely giving his opening, and only giving it if it was asked. The only time the boy had indeed spoken his mind to him had been a few days after the massacre, and Itachi had shocked him. Not many children could think as a Hokage, though he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, Itachi was truly something else. He wondered if Itachi would have said anything at all if Itachi had seen Kaida lose her temper with him. That girl was smart, but that temper was something that concerned him. So why was the man coming to him now asking for missions? _‘I don't believe Itachi is a traitor... The council will hate this, but Kaida is watching him.’_ “Okay, I do have a few missions,”

**……...**

Kannon sighed, sitting at the head of Kaida’s bed, leaning against the side of the window, looking out at the blue sky. The sky dotted with fluffy white clouds drifting lazily in the breeze that blew the light curtains hanging above the bed. She sighed again, brushing her hair out of her face, “When am I going to get my own room?” she asked, turning her gaze back to her sister. When their mother had died, Kaida had then kicked their father out for nearly selling their house and farm to try and pay off his gambling debts. _‘Still not fair… Dad was only drinking to try and get over mom,’_ she thought with a sigh. The day after kicking their father out, Keina had moved into the spare bedroom they used for guests. Kaida had stayed in the room she and Keina had shared. Giving their parents room to Kuma, leaving her and Kin to share a room.

Kaida raised an eyebrow pulling on a black crop top to go with her black pants. “Well, I suppose when I get married and move in with my husband,”

Kannon snorted, “Yeah, the only man crazy enough to marry you is Itachi, and you’re going on a date with some other man from his clan,” Kannon rolled her eyes, huffing at her sister. She still couldn’t believe her sister was going on a date with someone that wasn’t Itachi. She had been so sure that her sister was dating the handsome long-haired man that spent so much time at their house. 

“He asked… Felt like getting a free lunch. It doesn’t hurt anything to go on a date, Kannon. It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Kaida sighed, pulling a comb through her long locks, brushing it up into a high ponytail atop her head.

“And what does Itachi think about this date? I can’t believe you are having him pick you up her-”

“Please, everyone in the Uchiha compound knows where we live. Besides, it’s easier… Why do you have such a problem, Kannon?” Kaida asked, exhausted. She had put up with enough of Kannon’s whining about her date the past few days, and now she was going on again. Taro would be here in a few minutes.

“I just thought-"

“What?... That Itachi would take me out… Tell me he loves me?” she asked, rolling her eyes, “Grow up… That’s never going to happen,” she couldn’t help the hard-edge bleeding into her voice. ‘ _He might care, but I don’t believe he loves me… Not like I love him,’_ her eyes focused out the window on the bright sky. “Come on… You need to help Kuma, and my date should be here any minute,” Kaida sighed, patting her younger sister on the shoulder before making her way down the stairs to the kitchen.

“You off today, Kin?” Kaida asked, grabbing her knee-high boots, moving to the bench to slide them on.

“She is, so she gets to help Kuma and me today,” Kannon singed-songed hopping into the kitchen, shooting Kin a wide grin.

Kaida’s head turned at the sound of a knock at the door, “Well, that’s me… I’ll see you guys later,” Kaida pushed up, walking out the front door.

“Finally, it's the day... What, no dressing up?” Taro asked, looking up and down at Kaida dressed in the usual attire she could be found in at the base, “What happened to that little black skirt?”

Kaida raised an eyebrow letting the door shut behind her, “What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” she asked, not bothering to answer his other questions. She tilted her head up, locking her eyes with his glaring at him.

“Uh-”

“Right… So let’s go… What have you got planned?” Kaida asked, smacking Taro’s arm as she stalked by him, rolling her eyes when all Taro could see was her back.

“Yes… Right… Well, I planned on taking you to a restaurant in Uchiha district,”

It didn't take them long to arrive at the compound, moving through its nearly empty streets. Kaida sighed, crossing her arms, eyes catching on two small children. The only two Uchiha children to be born since the massacre, and if she was right, their father recently passed away. The man had been killed in action. Rubbing her arms, she turned her eyes away from the little boys. Her chest filled with the pressure the more they walked, images from that night coming back. So many of Itachi's clan members, she couldn't help. So very few left alive.

"Here we are," Taro exclaimed, clapping her on the back, hand starting to rub down her toned back before she twisted to the side, looking up at the sign.

Kaida rolled her eyes behind her eyelids, following the chatting man through the restaurant out on the back patio surrounded by a lush garden. She smiled at having a seat at a table outback. Shrugging her coat off, she hung the light garment on the back of the high chair, hopping up to sit at the high table, enjoying the warmth of the hot sun on her semi-exposed back.

“I’m saying you are going to love this place,” Taro smiled, at Kaida reaching over to place his hand on top of hers, frowning when the woman didn’t react to the touch. “So, tell me, Kaida, what happened to your back? that’s a lot of scars?”

Kaida rolled her shoulders, resisting the urge to jerked her hands out from under his dry, cracked one. Just the feel of his skin on her was making her skin crawl. “Mission,”

“And where was your Captain? It’s the Captain's job to pro-.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kaida let out a little sigh leaning back in her chair, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked up as the waitress came over to get the order. The scars were something she was willing to live with. She had endured pain to save others. She was okay with that. She wasn’t okay with the look in Itachi’s eyes every time he saw the scars, which was a lot considering she wore crop tops so often. That haunted far off look in his eyes put ice through her heart. Clenching her fist and pinching her side to keep from saying something as Taro orders her drink and her food before sending the waitress off.

“I understand… It must have been upsetting… Torture right,” he smiled sadly, leaning forward across the table. “I wish you'd come over to my team. I'd take care of you,"

"Taro-"

"I know you like your team. But if you get scars like that, your Captain isn't taking care of you… Itachi is a harsh man. The things he is capable of honestly scare me,"

"What do you mean?" Kaida asked. It was easy letting the worry lace her tone. She breathed in deep, pushing the conversation she had, had with the council and the Hokage to the back of her mind. _'I have to stay calm,'_ she thought, using one of the breathing techniques Itachi taught her to calm herself. _'I have Itachi's life in my hands… I'm not messing this up,'_

"Oh, you had to have noticed…" Taro sighed, "Look at me going on with such a depressing topic. This is a date, and I'm thrilled you finally agreed to go on a date with me, Kaida…”

“Yeah, you act like you've been trying to get me to go on a date for years,” she snorted, straightening up, pulling her legs up under her.

Taro smiled, _‘Certainly want to seem like I’ve been interested in her a while,’_ he thought, leaning back. “I've always liked you… But you know, I thought you and Itachi… Though with him supposedly courting Izumi now. I just thought-”

“What,” Kaida asked, genuine shock filling her voice. Itachi hadn’t told her anything about him, supposedly courting Izumi. Sure, she had thought they were dating, but Shisui had killed that thought, reassuring her that Itachi and Izumi were not, in fact, dating. Now. Taro was sitting here saying they were courting. _Which I suppose is different than dating. More serious, they would be practically engaged… Shisui would have told me,'_

“Oh, the big man himself didn’t tell you he and Izumi are supposedly courting now… Practically engaged to hear her tell it… Don’t know what he sees in her, though. Not when there is an absolutely sexy little thing like you. It's like comparing apples and gold,”

“No, he didn’t tell me,” Kaida nodded, leaning forward, laying her arms on the table. Wondering what angle Taro was getting at or if he was being truthful. Itachi might not lie to her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't omit something if he felt like it was something she didn't need to know. _'God, knows we've had plenty of fight about that,'_

“Itachi's a condescending ass who thinks he's better than everyone… I mean, he strings you along while he’s promised to someone else. You should think about that. I… I’ve thought about you for years,” Taro smiled, hand falling over his heart. He had spent time with his father this morning talking with him about getting this girl to fall for him.

Kaida raised an eyebrow as Taro kept speaking, trying to keep the disbelief off her face. Leaning her head on an open palm, she looked up at him through her lashes, “I… I never knew I thought-"

"It’s not your fault Itachi’s good at playing people. Look what he did to the clan, informing on us, none of us knew. He can say what he likes; it didn't stop anything bad from happening. As for me liking you, I didn’t want you too,” Taro laughed, “I didn’t know how to approach you with Itachi hanging around so much. I thought you two were together… Look, our food is here. You are going to love this beef ramen,”

Kaida scrunched up her nose at the steaming, stinking bowl of noodles and meat, her stomach churning at the smell of cooked steak. Turning her light eyes back up to the gloating man, disgust for both man and the food in front of her filled her, “I don’t eat meat,” she bit out, pushing the bowl away.

“Who doesn’t eat meat? It’s delicious, just try it, sexy... I promise you’ll love it,” Taro grinned, pushing the bowl back towards her.

Kaida tensed, heart speeding up. She took a deep breath clenching her fist against her thighs under the table. Her breaths weren't coming right. It was like she was trying to breathe underwater. _'What is Itachi doing here?'_ She thought, registering his warm presence. His chakra made her tingle, and at the same time, his chakra filled her with warmth even from this distance. _'He shouldn't affect me like this,'_

"Kaida," Taro called to the woman in front of him. She hadn't responded to his question in a few minutes. Now she was staring at the table with heat rising to her cheeks. _'Well, well… Look at that. I got the little ice queen to blush,'_ he snickered to himself, lifting his hand to reach across the table. Taro’s eyes snapped up, shock flooding his face at finding Itachi standing right behind Kaida. _‘When did he get there? He wasn’t there a minute ago.’_

Kaida relaxed as Itachi's chakra signature registered right behind her. Lifting her hands, she hid her mouth behind her hands, hiding a grin at the scowl she caught on Itachi’s face out of the corner of her eyes. “Captain, can I help you?” she asked, swinging her legs.

“Yeah… Itachi, you’re interrupting our date,” Taro huffed chest-puffing out, as he placed his hands on either side of the tall table.

Kaida’s eyes widened, cheeks slightly reddening as Itachi moved closer to her. Sliding his large hot hand, low on her scared back, grazing the top of her pants before sliding up her back just under her top. Kaida turned her light eyes on him, blinking slowly, talking in his blank face. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back into his hand, unconsciously pulling her lower lip between her teeth.

Itachi smirked as Kaida unconsciously leaned into his touch the same way she always did, dark eyes shooting Taro a stern look, “We have a mission briefing Kiada….”

“Itachi, why don’t-”

"I do apologize for interrupting your date, Taro. This mission is of uttermost importance. I need my team prepared,"

Kaida’s teeth dug harder into her bottom lip, eyes scanning Itachi's face as he interrupted Taro. Her Captain didn't look sorry at all. He looked like some territorial animal about to start a fight, which was confusing because she honestly couldn't come up with a reason for him being angry. They had discussed her date with Taro. Itachi had said he was fine.

“Itachi,” Kaida started. Despite Itachi's calm demeanor, she could feel the tension in his hand. She had just begun getting Taro to talk about what he thought about Itachi, why he wanted to take her on a date. _‘I need more time,’_ she thought, eyes darting between the two men. Her eyes landed back on Itachi, _‘What the hell is his problem?’_ she wondered, mind flying through different possibilities for why Itachi could be angry, "Can it…"

“No,” Itachi ignored the softened honeyed tone she spoke to him in. Kaida’s voice was already soft, but she only spoke with that honeyed tone when she wanted something. He didn’t have time for her tricks today.

Kaida nodded, taking in a steady breath, trying to ignore the fact that Itachi’s hand was stroking up and down her back. _‘God, that’s distracting,’_ she bit her lip harder, closing her eyes, “I’ll meet you there,” she tried again, grateful for all her years in Anbu when her voice came out even.

“I’ll wait outside. You have five minutes. It’s an important mission,” Itachi responded, voice calm and collected. Itachi thumb grazed gently down her spin, his dark eyes flicking to Taro before connecting back to hers, “Five minutes… We need a plan before leaving,” he added before turning and walking out of the restaurant to go wait outside.

Kaida, laughed hopping off the high patio seat, “Sorry-”

“No… You can’t help that your Captain’s an asshole… But listen, Kaida, it seems like he wants more than a mission briefing from you, and you-”

Kaida took a shaky breath at the words coming from Taro’s mouth, “My Captain is a lot of things... But he isn’t what you’re suggesting,” she glared, not liking what Taro was suggesting of Itachi. Shrugging on her jacket, she ignored Taro calling her name as she made her way out to Itachi, pushing the sleeves of her coat up to her elbows as she went.

Taro growled to himself, curling his hand into a fist, watching Kaida's hips sway with her long ponytail as she walked away. _'Damn it,'_ his father would be pissed. He'd have to find a way to pull the girl back in. One miss-step, and he pissed her off. Growling to himself, he slapped money on the table before stalking out the back. _'I need her to finish taking Itachi down,'_

Kaida took a deep breath, grumbling to herself as she walked out of the restaurant. She narrowed her eyes at finding Itachi's tall board form standing still, hand in his pocket. Eyes closed, tilted up towards the sun slightly. The calm, serene look on his face did nothing to calm her. "What the hell was that?"

"Please lower your voice,"

"Lower my voice!" She exclaimed, stomping up to the tall Uchiha poking him hard in the chest. "Why? Worried about me embarrassing you in front of your clan?" She growled, head tilted up to look him in the eyes, "What was that? You have never touched me like that in public. You were acting like a dog, marking his territory… I'm not a tree… I was on a date… And you came and interrupted for what? A mission briefing? Are we leaving now?"

"No...” Itachi sighed, hands sliding back into his pockets, “This mission is complicated. We need to discuss it," he explained calmly to the fuming woman in front of him. Itachi fought to keep the blank look on his face, knowing that if he let any of the amusement he was feeling right now show, it would only serve to anger his little firecracker of a teammate even more.

"And that couldn't have waited. I didn't get to eat," she hissed, slapping Itachi's chest once again, voice raised as she contentedly yelled at Itachi for disrupting her lunch.

Itachi fought back a laugh as Kaida slapped his chest with absolutely no force. Hitting him the same way she did when she was joking around, "You wouldn't have eaten anything there…" Itachi said flatly, ending Kaida's ranting. Kaida blinked up at him, bewildered by the soft smile on his face and the gentle but intense look in his dark eyes. Itachi smirked, biting his cheek at the utterly adorable look on her face, the same look that had taken over her face when he had stroked her back in the restaurant. Something he had wanted to do for so long. "Come on… I'll get you lunch on the way back to the office," he finished sliding his large hand down her slender tan forearm, locking her hand in his as he laced their fingers together.

“Okay… Who the hell are you, and where is Itachi?” Kaida hissed, jerking her hand from his grasps after her brain had caught back up with her. _‘Since when does he touch me like that? Hold my hand? Offer to take me out to lunch?’_ she wondered, confused beyond belief. Sure Itachi had gotten her lunch a few times when they worked in the office, but he had gotten Shisui lunch too. Itachi was just a kind, sweet man who didn’t want anyone to go without eating. But this was too much. Itachi didn’t do this. Kaida huffed, taking a step back from the man, eyes darting around, _‘When did we get in the middle of town?’_ she thought, looking wound at the shops surrounding them. She hadn’t noticed them leaving the compound, let alone the walk through most of Konoha. Kaida glared up at Itachi as her eyes found him again, irritation filling her at finding his stupid, irritating smirk on his face. _'What the hell does he find so amusing,'_ she fumed, irritated at his clear amusement.

Itachi turned dark eyes taking in Kaida’s bewildered look, a smirk tugging to his lips, at the flustered, irritated air she had. Her cheeks were still red, eyes wide as she looked up at him, her neck craned back from how close she was standing. _'She looks stunning,'_ he thought, amusement filling him at being the one to throw her off so much. It wasn't often he saw her so flustered, and he liked it, “I'm the same person you've known since we were kids,”

“No, your acting strange… You just interrupted my date-”

“We have a mission briefing… You need to eat,” Itachi spoke, deep voice calming soothing her irritation as he stepped closer to her; his smirk pulling wider seeing the way her muscle relaxed, the way her entire aura relaxed when he stepped closer, speaking to her lowly. Ignoring some of the looks they got. What was between them was their business. “This is your favorite restaurant,”

Kaida looked up at the sign of the business they were in front of. Sure enough, it was her favorite place to stop for lunch in all of Konoha. Serving tea, dango, and different kinds of vegetable dishes. “They don't have take out Itachi,”

“I know we’re going to eat here,” Itachi answered, sliding his hand back into her's, pulling her into the small cafe.

Kaida stared down at their joined hands as Itachi pulled her along gently toward a booth at the back of the cafe. Her eyes not moving from their linked hands as she stepped around tables. His hand was much larger than her but felt so perfect fit against her palm the way he had their hands joined. Her tanned hand created such a contrast against his larger, paler one. "Itachi… Why are you doing this?" she softly asked, sliding into the small booth beside him. Thank god for the little table, sparring them right now.

Itachi sighed, dark eyes taking in the petite woman in front of him. She was upset. He sighed again, running a hand through his bangs. He hadn't wanted to upset her. She had that look on her face again, that same look she had in his office before leaving. Itachi looked back up, trying to ignore the twisting stinging in his chest that had been present all day. _‘I really need to see someone about this chest pain,’_ taking a deep breath, he focused back on Kaida. Focusing on her always helped, but right now. Right now, she was sitting looking at him like he was the cause of all her distress. Itachi sighed, leaning back against the padded booth crossing his legs under the table, “I don’t want you going out with Taro...”

“Itachi… we talked-”

Itachi nodded, holding up his hand, letting her know that he wasn’t finished. He smiled softly at the indignant huff he earned in repossess as Kaida fell silent, crossing her arms as she curled up in the booth pulling her legs up. “I don't want you going on dates with anyone else,” Itachi finished honestly, knowing Kaida would catch his entire meaning. He had planned on telling her after their mission the decision he had come to but walking home when he saw her sitting at a restaurant in his family's compound. A restaurant she would never eat at, he had stopped and got closer, listening. He had wanted to break Taro’s jaw and hear the bones crunch under his fist when Taro had insulted Kaida for not liking meat. Then Taro had called the nerve to call her sexy. Kaida wasn’t just sexy. That idiot had their entire language to describe her, and the best he could come up with was beautiful, hot, or sexy…. Hearing Taro call, Kaida sexy had made his blood boil. Kaida was beyond beautiful to him. She took his breath away. the way her eyes always shine… The way her eyes would glint when she was teasing him or when she was happy or sad. The gorgeous, enrapturing, enamoring woman in front of him was ill-tempered, insubordinate, impulsive, and lovely, absolutely incredible, overwhelming, adorable when she’s mad, alluring, enticing. Itachi sighed. He honestly didn't know how to tell her everything going through his mind, how to tell his best friend that she was the most radiant woman he had ever seen. That she drives him absolutely crazy at times. _‘Though she might know that one,’_ He just couldn’t walk on by after hearing those insulting words directed at his teammate. Kaida had a great mind that kept him on his toes. She could tear that senseless pig to shreds, considering Taro could come up with three words to describe her. It was insulting and degrading to everything Kaida’s was.

Kaida blinked at him, “What happened to I can date who I want too, Itachi?”

“Kaida…” Itachi sighed. She wasn’t getting what he was trying to say, and she should. “That’s not what I mean… I-”

“What… What are you trying to say? Because I don’t know Itachi anymore… I swear I used to know what you were thinking all the time… But, lately, I have no idea anymore… I mean you… You confuse the hell out of me…"

Itachi held her gaze, "How am I confusing you?" Itachi asked softly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. Kaida blinked, scoffing at him, eyes turning to the side, pulling her full bottom lip between her teeth. Itachi sighed, dark eyes snapping down to watch her hand come up to fiddle with the small dragon pendant at her throat. That was the same small pendant he had given her last year for her birthday. He had caught her looking at it in a little shop on one of their missions. She had stayed staring at it for so long, even talked to the shopkeeper who had hand-made the pendant. Carved the dragon out of bone, cut and polished the rare stone the dragon was hanging below. He had gone back and bought it for her that night. When he had given it to her, the look on her face was still one of his favorite memories. Getting to see that smilee on her face, had been worth the weeks of tease ing from Shisui. Eyes flicking back up to her face, had ice feeling his chest. Itachi tried to take a deep breath, but the pain in his chest made it a little harder. _'The pains coming from Kaida, ' Itachi_ thought, forcing his mind to calm, ignoring the pain. Taking another deep breath, he pushed back his thoughts because surely there was no way he was feeling Kaida’s emotions. But it was there in her eyes. He could see it. She didn't believe he loved her. _'How could she not,'_ he thought. She knew him better than anyone. How could she not understand this simple fact? Itachi watched, her sitting there playing with her necklace, looking like she was about to cry. How could it have gotten to this point? That she couldn't see? Itachi's mind raced, wondering just what he had done to make her think he didn't love her, "We should eat and get to my office,"

"Is that all you have to say?" Kaida asked, light eyes focusing back on Itachi's. Fingers playing with the pendant, rubbing the pads of her fingers along the alexandrite hanging above the dragon, the stone was hung to look like it was in the dragon's mouth. Kaida fingered the necklace, finger tracking up the gold chain, hoping to feel calmer. She didn't, the necklace was something that was calming, and she would often play with it when she was upset. Reminding her of Itachi, but he was upsetting her, so the necklace wouldn't be much help in calming her fraying nerve. The beautiful stone that would turn from red to green. Turning the green of an emerald in the sunlight and the dark red of a ruby indoor. She had fallen in love with the stone when she had seen it—the necklace reminding her of Itachi and herself. Kaida's breath hitched at the intense look she found meeting his gaze, seeing her pain reflected in his eyes. Taking a shutting breath, she pulled her leg closer to her chest, wishing the tightness and pain away. The same tightness and pain that hadn't left for so many days now, making it feel like she was breathing underwater. The sound of heels on the tiles floor snapped Kaida's attention away from the dark, intense depths that were Itachi’s eyes. _'Oh great...'_ she thought, finding the busty blonde waitress that always asked her about Itachi making her way over. “Ugh,” head leaning back on the seat, eyes snapping back to Itachi, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"What can I get you to eat… Oh, hi Kaida… Itachi-kun, it's been a while since you've been in," The blond smiled, leaning down hoping to get the handsome man sitting across from the blue-haired regular to look at her. He was one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen. She honestly didn’t understand why he was always coming in here with that skinny, short, ill-tempered blue hair ninja chick sitting across from him. A man that looks like him could do much better. _‘Like me,’_ she thought, pushing her arms against her chest as she leaned down on their table.

“I’d like green tea, a seaweed salad, avocado rolls, and some edamame,” Kaida ordered, arms crossing under her breast when the waitress didn't even look her way or write anything down. Light eyes snapping to Itachi’s, she raised an eyebrow, full lips thinning.

Itachi sighed at the furious look, taking over his teammate’s face as their waitress kept her focus on him. He already had a headache. He really didn’t want to deal with Kaida starting a fight.

“What can I get you, Sugar? Maybe something not on our menu?”

“Seriously, can we just order our food and eat?” Kaida rolled her eyes, small hands slamming onto the table, making the tall blonde jump at the loud impact of her palms.

“Kaida-” Itachi's soft, deep voice broke the dead silence of the shocked restaurant.

“I'm hungry, and I swear to god in heaven if I don't get to eat Itachi…”

Itachi closed his eyes, so she didn’t see him rolling them, a small smile quirking at his lips. Dark eyes turning on the waitress, he gave her a kind smile, ordering his food and Kaida’s. Willing himself not to chuckle at the pouting, irritating way she was biting her lip and sitting.

**……….**

Kaida sighed, strolling around the corner of a few shops making her way to the bridge that Itachi wanted them to meet. She smiled, seeing Shisui already there leaning back against the railing of the bridge. He had a scroll opened in front of him, dark eyes scanning the contents thoughtfully. Kaida’s eyes roamed around, looking for Itachi, frowning when she didn’t see him.

Shisui looked up, closing the scroll as Kaida came up to him. He smiled gently, looking over at her. It had been a while since they had taken an Anbu mission that required them to go undercover. Moving like regular jounin, he felt a little naked going on a mission without his mask on his face, even if the mask was in his bag. He wondered if Kaida felt the same. “That’s a new outfit?” He grinned, commenting on her short leather skirt and black tank top paired with her regular coat and boots. “So, what prompted the change?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Kaida laughed, rolling her eyes at her friend, “Maybe I want a reaction,” she grinned, setting her pack down, hoisting herself up to sit on the railing beside him and swing her toned legs. “You know, see if I get a certain vein to pop,”

“In that tight short leather skirt… An even tighter tank? Oh, you’ll get reactions, just don’t know if you’ll get the one you want. Do you know who you’re playing this game with? Right?” Shisui asked, cocking his head to the side, eyebrow raised. _‘It’ll be fun to see Itachi’s reaction to what she’s wearing,’_ he thought, shaking his head. His poor lovesick cousin had a hard-enough time keeping his eyes off the blue-haired girl.

“I’ll win… I can always get Itachi to react,”

“That you can,” Shisui laughed.

“Besides, he needs some payback… Can you believe he interrupted my date!” Kaida exclaimed, legs swinging. She couldn’t believe that Itachi had come and interrupted her date. Effectively ending her date only a few minutes after it had started.

“I heard the whole compound is talking about it… Itachi never exactly told me what happened,”

“Oh, he was calm, you know how he is... Can’t read his face at all… Came in told me we had a mission briefing right away,” she rolled her eyes, “He even actually waited for me to leave with him… You know the briefing could have waited till this morning… He just wanted to get me out of my date with Taro… I mean, we weren’t leaving till the next morning anyway,” she rolled her eyes. Locking her eyes with, "So what are the rumors saying? Being you, Uchiha are surprisingly chatty,”

He sighed. "Well, if you listen to them, Itachi is in love with you and worried Taro is stealing you away, and some of them think you and Itachi are sleeping together already but not dating yet, so..."

Kaida barked out a laugh at hearing the rumors going around the Uchiha compound. “As… Your clan is crazy. Itachi isn’t going to-,”

Shisui raised his eyebrows high, turning to face Kaida fully. “Just what did he say during your talk?” he asked, not liking the tone of Kaida’s voice, let alone the words coming out of her mouth. _‘I’ve worked too hard to see these two screws up their own love life,’_

“Didn’t you talk to Itachi,” Kaida shot back, sobering up at her slip. Her heart was pounding in her chest at the calculating look Shisui was giving her now.

“He got pretty tight-lipped when I started teasing him about how I found you too asleep on the couch,” Shisui started, dark eyes watching as Kaida schooled her features. It was harder to read the little firecracker when she took a page out of Itachi’s book. _‘She's good at it too.’_ “You know I think Itachi had a revelation about his feelings for you, Kaida, but what about you? What was that about just a moment ago?” Shisui pressed, knowing he had hit a nerve when Kaida wrapped her arms around herself, fingers ticking on her upper arm. Shisui rolled his eyes when Kaida glared at him, _‘I swear the look she shooting me could be coming off Itachi's face,’_ sighing Shisui slung an arm around her. “ Before you say nothing… Because that wasn’t anything. You moody little Firecracker. It seemed to me like you don’t believe Itachi could… What love you the same way you love him?”

“He…”

“Kaida, talk to him about it… I don’t know why you don’t believe me. That man loves you more than life. Just… You too are going to have to talk and be honest. Have you told him everything that's bothering you?”

“Are you crazy… He just…” Kaida hissed, glaring at the elder man in front of her. She had no idea where her relationship with Itachi stood, and Shisui was suggesting that she and Itachi have a heart to heart like lovers.

“Don’t bite my head off, Firecracker… It's just a suggestion. I enjoy watching this little game of yours and Itachi. It's quite amusing, but it's going to blow up in your face in one way or another. I swear I could cut the tension between you too with my tanto,” he laughed, squeezing her shoulder before letting her go.

Laughing, Kaida kicking a leg at the man facing her, “I can’t believe you took a photo of us…”

“Oh, I wasn’t going to pass that up,” he replied, tossing the scroll over to Kaida, “I know Itachi’s read you in on the mission already… Have you heard of this Iroh man we’re going after?

She nodded, opening the scroll eyes looking over the parchment. Iroh was a rogue ninja that was causing quite a few problems as a hitman. He had recently been hired to kill a prominent lord's son. In return, they had been hired to take him out. “Yes, after stopping to get us some lunch… He read me in when we got back to his office... We’re on back to back missions; it’s going to take a few months after taking this lovely man out. We’re off to our next mission, intelligence gathering, then another assassination…” rolling the scroll back up, she handed it back to Shisui. Watching him slip the scroll into his bag. “So, where is that photo?”

“Itachi took it,” he shrugged, leaning back against the railing, “We’re supposed to meet the man at a small seaside town about five days away… Apparently, he enjoys gambling and women,”

Kaida snorted, hoping none of the shocks she felt showed on her face as she flicked her thick braid over her shoulder. “Most men do,” she commented dryly, thinking over Shisui’s first comment, shock, still causing through her blood. Kaida took a deep breath willing her heart to slow, _'Why would he keep a canned photo of us asleep?'_

“Are you two ready?”

Kaida cursed herself for nearly jumping at the sound of his deep baritone. Muscles still tense, she felt warmth flood her as she turned to face Itachi, his tall board and lean muscular form was doing nothing to calm her rising heartbeat at the moment. Kaida took a deep breath before meeting his dark eyes, hoping to steady her heartbeat. She grinned as Itachi's eyes looked up and down her body slowly. Cocking a hip to the side, her smile widened at seeing him swallow, turning his eyes past her to lock eyes with Shisui. Turning her head back, she winked at Shisui, who just shook his head, chuckling at her, “What’s up, Captain? Not like you to get here late?”

“Father wanted to speak with me before I left,” Itachi replied tensely, moving closer to his teammates, taking a deep breath. Shifting his gaze off of Kaida, _‘What is she thinking wearing that on our mission,’_ he took another deep breath, “It's just us… Our other team members are out on solo missions,”

“Oh, so I get to spend all this time out with just you two,” Shisui laughed, clapping Kaida on the shoulder, “Should be fun,”

They took off immediately into the trees, Itachi making sure Kaida was between himself and Shisui as they ran through the treetops. His eyes cut over to the side, running back over Kaida's petite body. He turned his eyes back in front of him. He didn’t like the way she was dressed. Sure, it would help them out with their mission, but he didn't want anyone looking at her like that. _‘I need to come up with another way to draw Iroh out,’_ he thought, though he wasn’t sure that was possible. The plan they had was the best one. That meant he and Shisui hanging back while Kaida had to draw Iroh out.


	15. Chapter Fifteen:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back with team Kakashi and Keina.
> 
> Here are some notes from the Naruto data book:  
> Kakashi:  
> Ninja registry number:009720  
> Birthdate: September 15  
> Height: 5 foot 11
> 
> Itachi:  
> Ninja registry number: 012110  
> Birthdate: June 9th  
> Height: 5 foot 10 (We made him slightly taller. Since in this world he isn't sick, being that sick would have likely stunned his growth somewhat. So in this world, he is six foot tall)
> 
> Now our characters:  
> Kaida and Keina:  
> Birthdate: July 22  
> Kaida's height: 4 foot 9.5  
> Keina's height: 5 foot 2

Keina stood beside Kakashi, looking out over the burial site they had made for the man and boy they had fought. She had no idea what happened during the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi or between the boys and Haku. But they had insisted on giving the two enemies a decent burial. Keina sighed, looking down at Sakura’s kneeled form in the long shadow of Zabuza’s sword laying the flower crowns she had woven on his and Haku’s grave. The evening sun’s rays glinting on the large metal cast long shadows along the ground. Her eyes turned back to the sky. The cliff they were on gave a beautiful view. The sky was ablaze in orange and purple as the sun was starting to set.

Sakura sighed, laying the flower crown on two small wooden crosses the boys and Kakashi had fashioned. Sakura had asked Keina to walk with her in the forest. The little girl had spent an hour in the surrounding forest with the blue-haired medic looking for flowers to put on the graves. Closing her eyes, she straightened back up, looking out over the cliff greens eyes, slowly looking back to the flowers, “Is that really it Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hmm?” Kakashi turned his head back to his female teammate, wondering what she was asking him. She often thought of interesting questions, though sometimes she asked questions that should be obvious. Though with her civilian upbringing, what should be oblivious might not be to her, he supposed.

Closing her eyes turning her head down to her lap, she took a deep breath folding her hands in her lap. Looking back up at her sensei, she asked the question that had been bugging her since pulling the bodies of Zabuza and Haku off of the bridge, “Is that the ninja way? To use and be used by people like ninja tools…”

Keina looked from the small thin pink-haired girl that reminded her a lot of Kanon back to Kakashi. The tall, white-haired man stood silently for a moment, dark eyes watching his students. Keina's eyes ran over his relaxed stance. Wondering if he was as calm as he looked, wondering what he was thinking behind that aloof attitude he put forward so often.

Kakashi sighed, watching Sakura’s kneeled form. The young girl had insisted on finding flowers for the graves of their enemies. His kids were so kind. They didn’t know war, fighting. They didn’t understand, didn’t truly understand the harsh truths of life. The harsh reality about the career they had chosen, “Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny no point in wondering if it’s right or wrong... It… It just is. It's the same in the Village Hidden in The Leaves,” he sighed, looking from each of his students.

Keina sighed, taking in the harsh words Kakashi had just spoken. Light blue eyes watching Kakashi’s students’ solemn faces as each one took in their sensei words. They were processing what their teacher had just said. Keina sighed, turning her eyes back to the man beside her, wondering if he truly believed what he had spoken. It was true to an extent if you asked her. Shinobi were tools for the villages. But there was always a point in wondering if what you were doing was right or wrong in her opinion. _‘What are we if we just follow orders blindly?’_ she thought, wondering if the man beside her had ever asked himself that same question. There had been many nights she had stayed up late with her sister talking about that very topic. Sometimes they were even joined by Itachi and Shisui. Keina snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Naruto’s loud huffing. Looking up, she found the blonde hair boy facing the setting sun. Bright rays were glinting off his blonde hair. Keina couldn’t help the small smile that came to her face watching the boy struggle with his thoughts. ‘ _He’s such a sweet boy. He’s never let the way some people treat him change his outlook,’_

Naruto turned bright blue eyes focused on his sensei and Keina, “Well, if you ask me... If that is what being a ninja's all about. Something’s out of whack. Is that why we go through all this training? Just to end up like them?” he asked blue eyes desperate for an answer. Keina had always taken time to explain things to him when others had just gotten irritated, where Kaida had taken time to train him like Iruka-sensei. Itachi-nii even helped sometimes too, when he wasn’t busy. Naruto sighed, he liked Sasuke’s older brother, but he did wish Kaida could spend more time with him and not Sasuke’s older brother. Who was like a dark shadow when it came to Kaida, where she went, Itachi wasn’t far behind.

“What is the reason for that?” Sasuke asked, stepping forward, speaking for the first time in hours. He had asked his brother what his missions were like, but Itachi had refused to answer him. _‘Was this why?’_ Sasuke wondered, dark eyes narrowing at his sensei.

Kakashi sighed, feeling like he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. How to talk to his students about this? He didn’t know the answer to their questions. They were questions that haunted him every waking day. Looking up to the sky Kakashi took a deep breath, mind filling with memories, “Well, it’s a question without an answer, and that is something we ninja have to deal with every day of our lives like Zabuza and the kid.”

Keina nodded her head slightly when Kakashi’s eyes met hers as the kids all looked away from them. She sighed, arms crossing. What else could he tell his students? Life as a ninja was hard; there were quite a few questions that seemed to have no answer. There were even more harsh truths in the world for them to come. She supposed they would learn them in time. The kids had grown up sheltered in a way she and sister hadn’t. Their generation had been old enough to remember the war, to remember the fox attacking the village. Keina sighed, glancing over to Kakashi, who she knew had seen more as a child than she had. He had fought in the third war. He knew what it meant to know that kind of fear. Know the pain and suffering that brought. These kids might know pain and suffering. But on the level that war brought? They hadn’t seen violence like that. Not yet. Despite the terrible things that have already happened in their lives. The truth was that war brought a different level of suffering, senseless, and they might be the ones causing it.

“Okay! I just came to a decision... From now on, I’m finding my own ninja way... A way that is straight and true and without any regrets from now on I’m falling the way of Naruto,” Naruto declared, with a broad smile earning a chuckle from both Kakashi and Keina.

Keina smiled, letting out a small laugh. Naruto’s determination for a better world feeling her with hope for the next generations. _‘Maybe they’ll do it…’_ she thought, shaking her head, looking from the broad smile on Naruto’s face to Kakashi. Even with his mask, she could tell he was smiling at his boisterous student. Turning, she laid a hand on his bicep, “We should be getting back… Everyone needs some rest… We have to finish helping with the construction of the bridge,”

Kakashi smiled, looking down at the medic beside him, “Right… Let’s go, you three. You heard our medic,”

**………..**

Keina sighed, walking out onto the deck with her tea, blinking when she found Sakura curled up on the edge of the deck with a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It was late, the moon high in the sky. What was the young ninja still doing up at this hour? She should be in the room she was sharing with the boy’s asleep on her mat. Keina sighed, wondering what had happened to make the sensible child get up and come outside at night to watch the ocean. Tucking her loose blue locks behind her ear, Keina made her way towards the thin girl. “You okay, Sakura?”

“Huh?” Sakura sniffed, rubbing at her eyes looking up at the older woman as the blue hair medic took a seat beside her. Sakura blinked, taking in the woman's appearance. She hadn't seen the medic in anything but her regular ninja clothes she wore every day. Hair pulled up. Now, she was in front of her in a long pale green sweater and white pants. Sakura thought the older woman looked beautiful with her long hair down. Sakura smiled again when Keina raised her brow at the girl waiting for a response. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sakura responds, “Yeah, I’m fine… Not crying at all,” she laughed, waving off the worry she saw in Keina’s eyes.

Keina sighed, taking a long sip of her warm tea, light eyes scanning out of the yard to the ocean she could see from the deck of Tanzua’s house. The night was beautiful here, the way the moon’s ray glittered off the water. It wasn’t something she had taken time to appreciate before when she had traveled when she was younger. Now, she loved coming out at night just to sit and watch the ocean. It was something she thought she might miss, even if it had been something to irritate her at first. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the child beside her, “What did that little brat say?”

“W… What?” Sakura asked, turning wide green eyes up to Keina. “I… I-”

“Sasuke… He’s a brat…” Keina laughed at the wide-eyed expression on Sakura’s face. Shaking her head Keina took another sip of her tea, “I told Itachi he indulges his brother way too much… That’d he’d turn that boy into a little asshole, though that might be partly Fugaku… Or half,” Keina shrugged a shoulder, “So what did he do?”

Sakura shook her head, causing some of her pink hair to fly up, “Sasuke is sweet and caring… He didn’t do anything. It was my fault… I-”

“Don’t… Don’t do that '' Keina held up a hand, interrupting the younger girl's string of words, “Don’t ever make an excuse for someone who isn’t treating you right… You don’t deserve that… Look Sakura, don’t take this the wrong way because I do think you are smart,” Keina started pausing to take a sip of her tea, “But you can be stupid and annoying,” sighed she reached out to pat the girl on the head, “Listen take this as some advice form a girl that older… Guys don’t like girls that follow them around like a puppy. It’s kind of creepy… No boy wants a fan-girl chasing him… Look, if Sasuke can’t handle you being smart, that’s his problem. Don’t lower yourself because it bothers him. He’ll either get okay with who you are, or he isn’t worth your time,”

“But-”

“No, buts honey, you’re young… But if a boy isn’t going to treat you right, there's no point in treating him like a king… Ask Kaida.” Keina snorted, pausing in her talk to take another sip of her tea, “You know my sister in love with Sasuke's elder brother… I bet you she’ll have some interesting advice...” Keina laughed, eyes turning from the sea back to Sakura. She could just imagine the little pink-haired girl who acted so timid around Sasuke asking her sister for advice, _‘Maybe that was a bad idea to suggest,’_ Keina thought, thinking over the possible things that could come out of Kaida’s mouth. Then again, maybe Kaida’s crass mouth was ecstasy what the girl needed, “Anyways, you are young, why not focus on becoming the best ninja you can be… There's a lot you need to learn. You won't learn it looking at Sasuke’s back,”

“Yeah… But-”

“Just think about it... Okay,” Keina asked, standing up intending to stop by the kitchen to get some more tea, “It's late. So, don’t stay out here long. We still have a lot of work to do in the morning,”

“Yeah… He got mad at me because I asked about his eyes,” Sakura spoke quietly, eyes forced ahead of her. Mind replaying the incident in her head. She had just been trying to have a conversation with Sasuke. He seemed so excited about his Sharingan. She had just wanted to get to know him better.

Keina turned and raised an eyebrow, “Is something wrong with them?”

“They turned red…”

“Sasuke awoke his Sharingan…” Keina sighed, nodding. Understanding what Sakura was talking about, she certainly didn’t see why Sasuke was mad at the girl. It was no secret that the Uchiha clan possessed the Sharingan. “What did you ask?”

“How they worked… He got mad…”

“Sakura… The Sharingan is a dojutsu… You know the answer to that. That's already been explained,” Keina sighed, eyes narrowed, wondering what questions the girl could have asked to anger Sasuke. Just telling his teammate about the Sharingan certainly wasn’t a big deal.

“I… might have asked a more detailed question,” she sighed, looking back up at the medic.

Keina laughed before she could stop herself, “You really need to think over my words… Most kids your age wouldn’t think to ask more detailed questions about the function of the Sharingan… Why don’t you see if you can come with me tomorrow?” she asked, turning back towards the house.

“Maybe…” Sakura sighed, taking her long pink hair behind her ear and watching the medic walk back into the house. Wrapping the blanket tighter around her, she leaned against the column on the deck, thinking over the medic’s words.

Keina huffed, blowing her side bangs from her face wishing she had thought to tie her hair up after her shower. Her locks might not be as long as her sisters, but they were long and rather annoying when down. She sighed, thinking over the idea of cutting her hair once again as she walked into the kitchen, intending to fix herself another cup of tea. She smiled, stopping at the kitchen entrance finding Kakashi standing there at the window in the kitchen looking out at the deck. Knowing that he’d be able to keep an eye on his female student currently sitting outside from that spot. “You know it’s cute you standing there like a worried Dad,”

Kakashi turned his head at the familiar voice coming from the kitchen entrance, finding Keina standing there with a mug in her hand. “Yeah… Well....” he drawled out, rolling his shoulders.

Keina laughed, moving further into the kitchen, going through the motions of making another cup of tea. She was glad to see Kakashi without his headband covering one side of his face, letting her see both of his eyes. She sighed, thinking it’d be nice if he’d take that mask off too, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep the secret that you’re really a big softy,”

Kakashi chuckled, moving aside so Keina could fill the kettle with water. Leaning against the counter, he watched her place it on the stove. “Well, I appreciate that… Got appearances to keep up and such,”

“Yeah…” Keina shook her head, “I hate to break it to you, but I think your kids are on to that little secret.”

“Ah… Maybe... Is she okay?” Kakashi asked, head tilting toward the window.

“Yeah... Upset about something, Sasuke said,” Keina answered after turning to lean back against the counter, waiting on her water to warm up in the kettle.

Kakashi sighed, looking up at the ceiling, “I wish Sasuke spent more time with Itachi and not their father… Fugaku hasn’t helped Sasuke superiority complex,”

“Itachi isn’t responsible for his brother's attitude… Besides, he’s a busy man,” she countered, assessing Kakashi's features, wondering where this conversation about the youngest and moodiest of the Uchiha main family was going.

“No, but if he made more of an effort to work with Sasuke, it might help… Sasuke has as much maturing to do as Naruto… Itachi’s a good role model for his brother,” Kakashi sighed, eyes turning back to Keina when she started laughing, “What’s funny?”

“You sound like Kaida… She’s on Itachi all the time about that,” Keina spoke between laughs. Doubling over in laughter at the look on Kakashi’s face at being compared to Kaida. _‘He looks like I insulted his dogs,’_ she thought, snickering to herself, “What don’t like being compared to a girl,”

“Ah… You could say, Kaida’s not my cup of tea…” Kakashi responded, a slight smile pulling at his lips at the look of glee on Keina’s face.

Keina shook her head, turning at the whistle of the kettle, “Yeah, she isn’t most peoples… Kaida does a good job of rubbing people the wrong way,” she laughed as she when about fixing herself a cup of tea. Her sister was something else. She could be a charmer when she tried. It was just that Kaida didn’t give a damn what people thought. Kaida spoke her mind. She showed her intelligence at work, she argued. Kaida wasn’t an easy person, but her sister was a loyal person.

“You sisters seems to get along just fine with the Uchiha,”

Keina turned, raising an eyebrow at the strange tone in Kakashi voice, “Yeah, a few of them,”

“The Uchiha are difficult people… Who’s putting up with who?” Kakashi joked, watching as Keina set the empty kettle back on the stove, making sure the appliance was off before turning to face again, a cup of tea in hand.

Keina snorted at the joke, “I suppose that depends on the Uchiha…” she laughed, light eyes looking down at the darkening liquid in her cup before looking back up a Kakashi, “So what's bothering you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been acting normal… Not since the fight. Is something about the fight bothering you?”

“Ahh well… I’m fine,”

“Don’t seem like to me. She but if you are sure,” Keina shrugged, knowing that pushing the matter would earn her nothing but lost trust. “Well, I’m off to bed,”

“Sleep well,” Kakashi called, stopping her at the enticed.

Keina turned, smiling at the older man, “Thanks… Hey Kakashi, whatever’s bothering you. If you want to talk about it. I’ll listen,” she offered, turning to lean on the side of the entrance of the kitchen.

“I’ll keep that in mind,”

**……**

After a few more weeks of construction, the bridge was finally complete, and they could finally head back home. Keina had to admit it was impressive. She hadn’t seen a bridge of its size before. The blue-haired medic had spent her time working with a few women in the village, teaching them basic medical knowledge. Some went a little deeper with the lesson for things they were likely to see a lot. She had been surprised when Sakura had joined those lessons learning fast. Honestly, the girl was impressive. Sakura could sprout information like a textbook; only she had trouble applying it at times. Though once shown she did well, she’d have to talk to Kakashi and see what he thought about his female student becoming a medical ninja. Keina had a feeling the little pink-haired girl would excel at the practice with her chakra control. ‘Something to talk to him about when we stop for the night,’ she thought, glancing up at the masked man beside her. They had all spent the morning collecting their things for the trip back to the Village Hidden in The Leaves. She and Kakashi had' got to sit and talk like they had been doing over the past month and a half they had been in The Lands of Waves. If she were honest, she'd admit she missed that little routine they had set up, but there was no point in complaining.

“We could never have finished the bridge without you,” Tazuna smiled, facing the ninja he had hired, “I can’t tell you how much we are going to miss you.” he finished. Wishing he knew what else to say to let each of them know just how grateful he was to each other. The sensei who fought so hard to protect them, the students who changed his views on ninja, especially the blond one. The medic who works herself to the bone for a month a half getting everyone better. He was truly forever grateful to each one of them.

“Do be careful,” Tsunami called, smiling softly to the ninja who saved her father and gave her son back the confidence he hadn’t had since his father’s death. She would miss them as well.

Keina smiled at everyone gathered to see them off, hoisting her backpack up to sit at a better palace on her shoulders, “Thank you for everything as well... I’m glad our village could be of service,”

Kakashi looked down to the blue-haired woman beside him, ‘she’s quite the little diplomate, isn’t she?’ he thought, eye watching the perfect smile she held in place on her face. There was no way anyone would know she didn’t like the man that had hired them. Or that she thought he should be reported for lying about the mission. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to those gathered in front of him, “Thank you for everything,”

Keina gave a soft smile catching the small Inari watery stare. The boy stood in front of his grandfather’s head, now bowed again, fist at his sides, trying to fight back his tears.

“No, no, don’t get all choked up... We'll come back and visit real soon,” Naruto started getting choked up looking at the small boy he had gotten close to over the time he had spent in the Land of Waves.

“You swear,” Inari asked, tearing up as his grandfather sat a heaving hand on his head.

“Of course,” Naruto said, his own voice shaky, “It’s okay to cry Inari,”

Keina breathed out, turning to face Kakashi looking up to the sky to hide her eye roll at the boy’s display. “We really should be going… Naruto will keep us here all day,” she whispered under her breath to the white-haired man.

Kakashi turned his uncovered eye down on the woman beside him as she whispered to him. He snorted at her comment, hands sliding into his pockets.

“Who says I want to cry… Anyway, if there nothing wrong with it, why don’t you go ahead and cry,”

Keina rolled her eyes when Naruto suddenly turned and started walking. Sighing, she turned with Kakashi making their way down the newly built bridge after his students. As they walked down the bridge, the kids went on about what they were going to do when they got back. Keina grinned, looking over to Sasuke, feeling like teasing the boy. “Say Sasuke… Are you looking forward to showing your big brother your Sharingan?” she asked, trying not to giggle at the look Sasuke shot her.

“Nii-san will be proud… I’m going to ask him to train with me,” Sasuke started, dark eyes flicking to Keina. Mind replacing her with her twin for a moment. Sasuke growled, “That is if he isn’t busy with Kaida.” Sasuke grumbled to himself as he walked. He hated the woman his brother spent so much time with. His Nii-san spent everyday training with that girl. He was willing to bet Itachi spent more time with Kaida than Shisui. The only time his brother would go without seeing his precious teammate was if he had been sent on a solo mission, and as soon as he got back, he goes see her. He hated competing with her for his brother’s attention. That little blue-haired tramp was stealing his brother.

Keina nodded, taking in Sasuke’s angry expression, “Your brother is very fond of my sister. I'm afraid you just have to get used to her being around, Itachi likes her company, but I’m sure he will be glad to help his little brother…” she answered, turning the kid’s conversation. Glancing over at Kakashi, who was tense as if preparing for battle. “Um, Kakashi, you okay?”

Keina grinned, watching as Kakashi laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, observing his students as they walked on ahead. She reached over, smacking his arm, “worried what Itachi’s going to say about his precious little brother getting the Sharingan on this mission?”

“Itachi is protective of Sasuke; he needs to let the boy learn. Bad things happen. He can’t protect Sasuke from everything,”

“Oh, Itachi’s overprotective, alright… Kaida’s complaining about that all the time. Itachi’s insanely protective of my sister, too, just as much as he is of Sasuke. Don’t worry. I’m sure he won't be too upset. Beside where Itachi is, Kaida usually is, and Kaida always does a great job at soothing Itachi-”

“Yeah, I bet…” Kakashi snorted, crossing his arms as they continued down the road.

“What's that tone?”

Kakashi eyed her without turning his head. Watching the irritated look on her face before she schooled her features. “From what I hear... Your sister is pretty good at doing a lot of things for Itachi. I thought Itachi was better than that to take advantage of a subordinate through," he started watching the way her expression changed as he brought up some of the rumors he had heard about her sister and Itachi. Rumors he was beginning to have an easy time believing the more time he saw Itachi and Kaida together.

“Excuse me-” Keina seethed light eyes narrowing as she turned her eyes up at Kakashi. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Kakashi was Itachi’s Captain at some point in Itachi’s Anbu career, and he’s worked with both Itachi and Kaida. _‘He should be able to see how much Itachi loves Kaida,’_

“Hey, Keina…” Naruto yelled, turning to walk backward as he called back toward his sensei and the short woman he was talking to. His light blue eyes glancing between Keina and Kakashi, wondering what was going on the two were giving each other strange looks. _‘Adults are weird,’_

Keina’s eyes snapped from Kakashi’s lone dark narrowed dark one to the bright blonde in front of them, a smile spilling onto her face at Naruto’s bright smile, “Yes, Naruto?”

“Do you think Kaida would go on a date with me if I asked her?” Naruto yelled, hands wrapped around his backpack straps, hoisting the bag further up his back.

“Is she that pretty lady that was with Itachi that looks like Keina?” Sakura asked, turning her head raising an eyebrow at Naruto. Wondering if she was right, she was pretty sure Kaida had been the petite girl beside Sasuke’s elder brother that Naruto had slammed into. _‘I wonder if she’s dating Itachi-Kun… He’s dreamy looking, though not as dreamy as Sasuke…’_

“Yes...” came Sasuke’s short reply as he glared over at Naruto.

“They don’t look alike… Keina’s taller than Kaida... Kaida is shorter, skinner. She had a six-pack. She is curvy, but she not as curvy as Keina... Her hair is a lot longer too. She's really cool, Sakura. She can make fire and can beat Itachi-nii-"

“Humpf… She cannot and stop calling my brother that…” Sasuke hissed, shoving Naruto. “Why would Kaida give you the time of day… dope,” Sasuke fatty replied, returning Naruto’s glare.

“What am I chop liver… Kaida and I look the same,” Shaking her head, Keina let out a soft laugh. _‘Oh, Kaida and Itachi better never hear him talking like that,’_ she thought, shaking her head. Letting Naruto go on with his antics for now. Knowing despite what came out of the boy’s mouth, he was could actually be very respectful, “I don’t know Naruto, you might have some competition… No harm in asking her,”

“That’s a boy with his crush for you…” Kakashi said, trying to put out peace between them, not wanting to fight with her. Taking a deep breath, the man leaned closer, “I think you’re prettier than Kaida… There’s a lot more difference between you and your sister, though the only thing true about what Naruto said is that your taller,” he whispered, chuckling at the light dusting that graced her cheeks. Honestly, he truly thought Keina was beautiful. She came up a little past his shoulder and had more prominent curves than her sister did. Kaida was just way too skinny for his liking, not to mention her personality.

**……...**

Keina sighed, stretching her arms above her head. It was nice to have a chance to stretch out her arm. Her bag was heavy. Carrying it was fine, but it made her shoulders sore. They had walked a long way today, Kakashi finally letting them stop at sundown. It hadn’t taken them long to find a place to camp for the night, quickly setting up their small camp amongst the trees. Looking around, Keina found all the kids asleep on their mats; covers pulled up to keep them warm. The air was slightly chilly. It was just now the beginning of spring, so the night was still reasonably cold. Standing, she made sure their fire was out before looking up at the thick canopy searching for Kakashi. The man had said he would take the first watch, but she wasn’t tired yet. _‘Maybe he would like some company,’_ she thought, finding the man in the threes. Leaping up, she leaned on the branch next to him.

“I’m taking the first watch. You can go rest… We have a long day tomorrow,”

“I know… Just not tried yet,” Keina answered, sitting down beside the man who just nodded once, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. Grinning, Keina sat on her own branch leaning back against the trunk as well. Looking up, her smiled broadened at seeing the expanse of the bright stars in the dark sky through the canopy. “You know when my sister and I were little. Our mother would stay up with us till the sky got dark enough to see the stars. We’d sit outside, and she’d tell us their stories,”

Kakashi turned his head, looking back to the woman beside him. She had a wide smile on her face looking up at the stars you could see through the tree. Kakashi smiled, “what are they like?” he asked softly.

Keina laughed, turning her head back to him, "Well, you know Kaida… Mom had a hard time getting her to sit and listen. She'd rather be training in the forest with Shisui and Itachi. Still, mom always managed to get her to sit and listen to her stories. Kin, she's a genin too, a little like Kaida. Though not nearly as competitive,” Keina laughed, thinking about Kin and Kaida, who were so alike in the way they thought, “Then there’s Kuman and Kannon. They were mom little angels. Hung to our mother like glue, they loved her stories times the most,”

Kakashi sat quietly listening to his friend talk about her family. It was sweet the way she talked about her sister. Not for the first time, he wondered what it would have been like if he had had siblings, “That sounds like a wonderful memory… Do you all still do that?”

“With our mother no… She died when Kaida and I were thirteen. The girls were eight.” she sighed, looking down at her lap.

“I’m so sorry,”

“It fine… It was a long time ago…” Keina looked up, giving him a forced smile, “Kuma and Kannon still keep our mom’s tradition, though. The rest of us join when we can… Mom had wanted us to keep it up, pass along her stories to our kids,”

“That’s sweet,” Kakashi nodded, whishing his father had done something like that with him, “What happened… To you mother?” he asked softly, looking down at his students.

“Her and our father were traveling for business… We own a farm near the Uchiha district… They got attacked by bandits on their way back. My mother was killed… My father, well I told you that… I was like he died with her,” Keina sighed, locking eyes with Kakashi.

“I’m so sorry, Keina… Losing a parent…” Kakashi sighed, looking up to the sky, remembering his own father. He had no memories of his mother. She had died in childbirth, “It’s a terrible thing,”

“Who did you lose?” she asked, hearing the pain in his voice.

 _‘Everyone,’_ Kakashi sighed, stopping himself before he could say what he was thinking. That was a little much to be discussing when someone he was just getting to know personally. Regardless of how much he liked her or believed he could trust her. There was just something about the medic that told him he could trust her, “My father…”

“Kakashi…” Keina started intending to let him know he didn’t have to talk to her if he didn’t want to, but the man surprised her when he began speaking again.

“My father was my hero when I was little. He was the Leaf’s, White Fang…. I wanted to be just like him,” Kakashi sighed, looking up to the stars, “He abandoned a crucial mission to rescue his teammate… His friends…”

Keina wanted to reach out and wrap her arms around the older man at the pain in his voice. Keina blinked the wetness out of her eyes, watching as he stopped speaking for a moment gathering his thoughts. Her heart hurt for the little boy he was describing. A child who came home to find their dead parent, a child filled with hurt and anger. She blinked again, willing the wetness back, knowing he wouldn’t see her tear as comforting.

"He broke our ninja code… dishonored himself and our family… Everyone hated him for letting the mission fail… I didn't understand his choice. I was so angry with him. I came home one day to find him dead… He had killed himself… That just made me angrier,”

“You were just a kid Kakashi-”

“I hated my father for what he did,” He stressed quietly, self-loathing in his voice, he sighed leaning back against the tree. He didn’t want to take out his frustrations on Keina, “Took me a long time to see he did what he thought was right…”

“You wish you could tell him,” Keina guessed.

“Yeah,” Kakashi nodded, “I do… I wish I could tell him I’d do the same. I have… It just hasn’t always worked out… Sometimes they still die,”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Keina whispered, knowing there was nothing else she could say to offer any comfort to the man.

Kakashi nodded, “you should get some sleep… I’ll be waking up in a few hours for your watch,”

“Yeah,” Keina nodded, standing up on the branch, making sure to filter chakra into her feet to keep her on the branch.

“Keina,” Kakashi called softly, catching the woman attention, “Thank you,”

Keina smiled softly at him, “Like I said… Anytime you want to talk. You know how to find me,” she spoke before leaping off the tree landing on the ground in a crouch. Standing back up carefully, she made her way to her mat. It would be nice to get a little sleep.


	16. Chapter Sixteen:

“Take your headbands and weapons pouches off… We'll have to travel like civilians from here,” Itachi nodded, eyes flicking from Kaida to Shisui. His dark eyes quickly checked that both Kaida and his cousin tucked their headbands and weapon pouches into their bags. Itachi made sure to tuck his own away, dark eyes overlooking his teammates for any signs of exhaustion after their three-day run. They were Anbu, so they were all conditioned to run as they had been, but it was the middle of summer, and it was hot. They hadn't taken many breaks or bothered to stop for the night. Hoping their target hadn’t already moved on to the next town. Knowing that would prolong the time they would be out of the village. Itachi's dark eyes landed back on Kaida, slowly moving up and down her toned body. The man sighed, enjoying her closeness to him. She was close enough to feel her body heat radiating off. Close enough to pull her into his chest, breath in the scent of her hair, _‘I’ve got to think of something else to draw Iroh out,’_ he thought, dark eyes catching on her bare thigh where her weapons holster had been tied.

“Are we making camp out here?” Kaida asked, hand curling around Itachi's wrist as she moved closer, eyes searching the ground below them. She was searching the ground below for any human presence.

Shisui grinned, watching the too soon to be lovers in front of him, _‘So many years of work,’_ he smiled, enjoying how close the two were getting. _‘Now, if I can just get them to talk,’_ he thought, crossing his arms, thinking about the bet he made so long ago. _‘I’ll win so much money now,’_ Shisui laughed in his head, watching the soft love stuck look in Itachi’s eyes as he looked down at Kaida, unconsciously lacing his hand with hers. “So, what’s our story?”

“Same it usually is when we need to pass through a town as civilians.”

Kaida laughed, shaking her head at his answer. She released Itachi’s hand to leap from the tree, landing on her feet with a couching straightening back up. She looked up, waiting for the men above her to join her on the ground.

“So, the little Firecracker poses as your wife, and you get to hold her as much as you want…” Shisui teased, slapping his cousin on the back, “You really should just marry her, my dear baby cousin… She’d make one hell of an Uchiha… Uncle Fugaku will see that if you push,”

Itachi sighed, eyes slipping closed, “I… I’m still planning what to do about that,” he sighed, running his hands through his bangs, dark eyes finding Kaida below the foliage. “She doesn’t believe I’m in love with her… I need to fix that first…”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Shisui shrugged, clapping Itachi on the shoulder before leaping from the branch they were standing on to join Kaida on the ground.

“I have too,” Itachi nodded, leaping after his cousin landing beside the older man in a crouch.

**…...**

Itachi couldn't help the small smile on his face. The walk through the small gambling town had been quite enjoyable. Kaida had bounced in her step beside him, her arm twinned with, his hand laced together with her petite one. It had been such a peaceful walk with her and Shisui. They had been able to assess the town for any threats while looking like passing tourists to the townspeople, who were quite familiar with ninja. Thanks to their reasonable proximity to a small ninja village about two day's travel by foot. It didn’t take them long to find an open inn in town. Walking in, the three Anbu agents found an elderly couple at the counter.

Kaida smiled at the couple, turning her light eyes up at Itachi. The woman scribbling away at a ledger, while the old man Kaida was guessing from the man's age was either the woman's husband or brother was sitting off to the side reading a book.

The man glanced at them. Giving them a bored look, before going back to his raggedy book, “Dear… We have guests…”

“Yes… I can see that your old coot… Welcome, what can I do for you?” the woman asked, stern voice turning sugar sweet as she faced them. Gray eyes taking in Itachi and Kaida’s clapping hands, how close they were standing. Her gray eyes flicked to the man beside them, who was grinning widely at her.

Itachi smiled, unwinding his arm from Kiada’s to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her small frame into his side. His chest filled with warmth when she curled into him, laying her head on his chest, hands coming up to rest on his stomach and back.

Kaida sighed, breathing in deep as Itachi pulled her close. She felt so safe being this close to him, having his arms around her. It honestly didn’t make sense, but she truly felt whole like this with him, this close, with his strong arms wrapped around her. Kaida breathed in, chest expanding easily, heart full. With Itachi holding her like this, she could pretend as he cared as much as she did, could pretend that he loved her the way she loved him. _‘Be honest with yourself what’s there to love… Your irritating Kaida,’_ Kaida sighed, turning her face into Itachi’s chest, rubbing her nose against him to calm herself. The thoughts in her head didn’t fit with what she was feeling though, she felt warm, light, even if she did feel a little tightness in her chest. It was like a child squeezing their favorite toy. Taking a deep breath, she looked up with watery eyes connecting with Shisui, who wagged his eyebrows at her.

Itachi couldn’t resist tilting his head down to press his nose into Kaida’s hair, breathing deeply. Itachi sighed, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head, at the pinching in his chest, _‘Something's bothering Kaida,’_ he thought, hands rubbing up and down her arms. Itachi sighed, pulling his attention back. Itachi addressed the woman, “We’re traveling on our way to the land of Iron… We need two rooms, please. One for my wife and me and one for my brother,”

The older woman hummed as she ran a finger down her ledge, “Yes, yes… Unfortunately, we only have one room available… You see the next town over…” She stopped leaning towards them, eyes widening, “It's a ninja village…” she grinned, standing back up, “They are having some big festival, and the people who live in this land are all attending it seems like so we only have one room like I said… It only has one bed, though,”

Itachi looked over to Shisui, who shrugged his shoulder before looking down at Kaida, who nodded slightly **, “** We can make do with that... Thank you very much for your hospitality.”

“Are you sure? I don’t have any more mats for the floor,” the old woman asked, eyeing Shisui with a disapproving look. It wouldn’t be proper for the man’s brother to share the bed with the lovely couple.

“I am… My brother has a mat he can sleep on the floor,” Itachi nodded, smiling at the old lady. Kaida’s head turned just enough to eye the old man at the loud, indignant noise he let out.

“No need to thank the bat… Wait till she feeds you,” the old man snorted, not looking up from his book.

“Hush you… Now, don’t you listen to him… You get a free breakfast staying here,” the old lady grinned as she scribbled away in her book, placing a key on the counter as Itachi handed over coins in exchange for the room, “Just take those stairs up to the top floor. Your room is at the end of the hall… Just one thing. What name do I put it under?” she asked, lifting a wrinkled hand pointing to the stairs.

“Mr. Sato and Mrs. Sato, and I'm Itsuki Sato,” Shisui answered, waving his hand at the woman before bowing his head at the look Itachi shot him for forgetting his manners.

Itachi smiled, letting go of Kaida to retake her hand, bowing in thanks to the woman before starting toward the stairs, Kaida by his side and Shisui trailing after them.

“Oh,” the woman called, stopping them at the bottom of the stairs. “Mr. Sato and Mrs. Sato, I meant to say you are a lovely couple … I can tell you truly belong together,’

“Thanks… That’s what we kept telling them,” Shisui turned, grinning at the woman, “You can’t imagine how happy the family is about their marriage,” He smiled, biting back his snicker as Kaida smacked his back.

“Thank you,” Itachi smiled.

They turned to make their way up the stairs. Kaida sighed, fingers drumming against the back of Itachi's hand. Itachi looked down at her watching the way her fingers twitched against him and her thighs. Something she did when she was restless. Bringing her hand up, he placed a soft kiss on the back of her knuckles. Nodding at a plump man they passed in the hall, turning his attention back to her keep his voice low, "Is something wrong,"

"Just counting, Sweetie, " she answered, blinking up at Itachi, breath still shocked out of her by the soft kiss he had just placed on her hand. _'That wasn't necessary,'_ she thought, momentarily dissected from her mental notes of the layout of the building. It didn’t take the three Anbu long to make up to the third floor. Finding their room quickly at the end of the hall. Kaida sighed, setting her bag down by the small table in the room. It was fairly big with a little shower and a small traditional dining table in front of a wood-burning stove. Off to the left of the room was a large bed pushed up to the side of the all, with an ornate divider to separate the sleeping areas from a changing area to offer privacy. Beside the bed was a small wooden drawer. An even larger ornate partition was folded against the wall. Kaida grinned, betting unflooded it would hide the sleeping area of the room altogether.

Shisui laughed, looking around the room as he made his way to the bed on the right side of the wall. Flopping down on the bed, groaning in relief at finally being able to relax for the first time in days. Propping himself up at hearing an indignant scoff, he gave his blue-haired teammate a wide suggestive smirk before turning his dark eyes on his favorite cousin, “So what are our sleeping arrangements?”

Kaida rolled her eyes at Shisui, tilting her head up at her Captain. Raising an eyebrow at the dark look, Itachi was shooting Shisui. Sighing, Kaida lifted a hand, laying an open palm against Itachi’s chest. It wasn’t often that Itachi got irritated with his cousin that he looked like he could rip Shisui's tongue from his head with his bare hand. Kaida smiled at immediately gaining Itachi’s attention, muscles relaxing once again at the feel of his large calloused hand covering hers. “I’m going to go take a shower… Try not to maim your cousin… I do actually like him,” she whispered, the last part leaning into Itachi’s chest before heading off to the shower with her bag.

Itachi nodded, squeezing her hand, eyes snapping up to glare at his cousin, stopping any words from leaving Shisui’s mouth as Kaida stepped by him. Her small hand dragged across his chest as she went. “What?” Itachi asked when he heard the water turn on behind the closed door of the bathroom.

“You introduced her as your wife… You di-”

“It’s easier when we need to share a room… Traditionally...”

“Oh please, Itachi… You are in love with her, and that downstairs wasn’t an act… You need to tell her,” Shisui hissed at his cousin, “I don’t care about your dad or the clan. She makes you happy… Screw everything else! That can be figured out… You two are perfect for each other… You need to make her your girl before I'm as old as that couple downstairs… Because I'd like to see little blue-haired Uchiha running around… It'd give Uncle a minor heart attack,"

Itachi coughed at Shisui’s last statement, glad he was bent over to pull his shoes off. He could feel the heat on his face. The words his cousin spoke painted a picture in his head of little girls with their mother’s hair, his eyes, their mother’s face, and passion. He’d never be able to tell them no. Kaida would have to be the one to tell their girls no. Itachi sighed, pushing the thought away. He wanted them, but they weren’t even dating. He couldn't even tell her how he felt yet.

Itachi and Shisui both tensed up and, armed at the knock at the door, “Yes,” Itachi called deep voice level.

“Oh… I just love your voice… I wish my husband had a voice that deep…”

Both men relaxed, hiding their weapons at hearing the voice of the old lady they had met downstairs. Eyes slipping closed, Itachi made his way to the door, ingoing his cousin teasing gestures. “Yes,”

“Well, dear, I forgot these… You see, guests often come through here and need them… Besides, providing them wins me some extra points. The other inns don’t,” she laughed, handing over three spare yukatas. “There's two that will fit you boys… The last one should fit that tiny wife of yours, might be a little big… She’s a little thing. You should make sure she eats more. You know a little more weight helps with having babies,” the old woman grinned, patting his arm. “What to have those soon, you know, while you can enjoy them,”

Itachi smiled kindly at the woman bowing his head, “Thank you. I will keep that in mind,” he answered, shutting the door as the woman walked away. Moving back into the room, he threw a large yukata at Shisui, who was sprawled on the bed laughing into a pillow. Rolling his eyes at his cousin, who was acting like a five-year-old, Itachi made his way to the bathroom knocking softly on the door.

“Yes?”

“The old lady who owns the place brought us all a yukata…” Itachi called softly through the door. Itachi held his breath as the door opened, revealing Kaida’s wet body wrapped in a towel.

“Thanks,” Kaida nodded, light eyes looking up into Itachi’s dark ones as she took the yukata from him. Kaida’s breath caught in her throat as she looked into his eyes. His eyes seemed darker than usual, more intense than usual.

“I’m going to go get us some food… See if I can find anything out about Iroh,” Itachi spoke thickly, clenching his fist, forcing his dark eyes to stay on her face.

“Yeah… Okay...” Kaida answered, swallowing the lump in her throat as his hand left hers, “I'm going to put this on,” she mumbled, stepping back into the bathroom.

"Seriously, I don't see how you stand having hair that long,” Shisui commented, eyeing Kaida’s wet locks that hung a little past her hips.

Kaida snorted, looking up at Shisui through her lashes as she walked from the bathroom to the bed, dropping her bag once at the foot. Sighing as she plopped down at the top of the soft mattress patting her hair with the towel. Enjoying the feel of the delicate, thin yukata on her skin. "How long do you think Itachi will be gone?"

"Oh, I'm sure your lover will be back soon."

"He isn’t my-"

"Kaida…" Shisui interrupted, rolling his eyes, pushing himself to sit up, "You two are together in every way except the physical… You love him. He loves you… I know on some level you know he loves you-”

"I'm not an Uchiha… He’s made it clear that he doesn't think that... I-” Kaida started dropping her brush in her lap, light eyes clashing with Shisui. Heart clenching in her chest as all the thoughts came rushing to her mind about why Itachi shouldn’t care about her. Why he couldn’t care, why there was no way she was the one he loved. No way she was the one he wanted to spend his life with filled her mind. _‘This is stupid… I’m being stupid,’_ she growled to herself, willing the negative thought to stop.

"You know for such intelligent people. You two can be dumb…” Shisui sighed, “I’ve told you he loves you… I know what he said, but I promise you it's not whatever’s going on in your head… Are you seriously going to sit here and list every bad thing you think about yourself…? Well, I hate to break it, sweetheart, but Itachi loves all those things you don't like about yourself. Ask him," Shisui grinned when Kaida huffed, throwing herself back on the bed.

"I feel like I'm on fire." Kaida huffed, head landing on the pillow, wet locks spilling out around her, “That’s how he makes me feel… I’m so confused… He… treats me like we are just friends one miniature, then like he wants more… I… I don't know what he wants… Does he want me? Are we just friends?” she ranted throwing her hands up grayling at the ceiling. “And what about Izumi?”

"Try watching you too… It's like waiting for a bomb to go off…" Shisui sighed, eyes darting to the window wonder what was keeping the topic of their conversation. “Itachi sees Izumi as a friend, though now I'd say he’s starting to see her as an obligation… look, Kaida, he loves you…. You need to talk to him about all this insecurity… Where is it even coming from?”

“I…” She shrugged, knowing what to say, mind racing with insults that had been thrown at her over the years.

“Talk to him oaky…” Shisui sighed, giving the younger girl a small smile. He honestly thought of Kaida like a sister and had seen her and Itachi's relationship coming to this since they were all kids. If only he could get them to talk. “What do you think is keeping our Captain?”

"He’s fine…" Kaida answered by turning her head to look at the Uchiha’s hair lounging on the only other bed in the room.

"What?"

"Itachi, he’s fine." she rolled her eyes, irritation sipping into her voice at Shisui, not knowing who she was talking about.

"How do you know?” Shisui asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl who was, if plans went well, soon going to have his last name and be the next matriarch to their clan. Shisui shook his head, wondering what she was going on about. _‘How does she know?’_ he wondered. _‘She said that like it was a fact… Like she knew,’_

"I just do…" Kaida shrugged, eyes snapping over to the window as Itachi appeared in it, pushing herself up to sit cross-legged on the bed, "See," she said, watching as Shisui got up, opening the window to let their Captain in. "So, what did you find?"

"Iroh isn’t here… My crows nor I could find Iroh… From what I could learn while I was out, he has moved on to the next town…" Itachi answered, deep voice breaking the silence that had filled the room at his entrance. Crossing the room, he set the bag in his hand on the small table, " We'll have to continue with our next mission till we hear from Intel where he’s going next… I sent one of my crows back to the village with a scroll letting the Hokage know what I’ve found. He should be back sometime tomorrow. I’d say will be asked to move on to the mission retrieval then go back to the assassination,"

"Great," Shisui sighed, dropping down on his knee at the table. “What is that, Itachi?” Shisui asked, picking up a container that looked less than appetizing to him.

Itachi snatched the container out of his hand, moving to hand it to Kaida, “It’s Kaida’s, and so is the dango… So, don’t touch it,” Itachi spoke over his shoulder, dark eyes connecting with his cousin as he handed Kaida her food and chopsticks.

Kaida grinned up at Itachi’s small hand sliding over his as she took her food out of his hand, “Thanks, Sweetie… But honest… That dango is really for you,” She teased, grinning up at him. She might eat some of the dango, but Itachi would be eating most of it, “So have you two discussed tonight’s sleeping arrangements?”

“Your welcome, Kaida,” Itachi gave her a small smile moving to sit between the Kaida and the table, grabbing his own food and chopsticks pointedly ignoring his cousin.

“Well-”

“We’ll all share the bed… We have been running for days. We each need a good sleep,” Itachi’s deep voice broke in, interrupting his cousin.

Kaida’s light eyes connected with Shisui’s wide dark one over Itachi’s head. Raising her brow at the older man, who winked at her in return. “It's not like we haven’t slept together before, but that was…” she closed her eyes. There was hardly any point in arguing this with Itachi. It certainly wasn’t worth her sleep, “If it’s okay with you, it is with me, Itachi…”

“If that’s settled…” Itachi set his empty food container back into the bag, pushing himself up, “I’m going to wash off and get ready for bed… We’ll discuss our details for the mission in the morning,”

“M’kay,” Kaida nodded, getting up to place her empty food container in the bag before sliding back under the covers.

“Well, I'll just bathe in the morning,” Shisui shrugged, pushing the divider that was between the beds open more so that it would hide one side of the bed ear from the other.

“Um, no, if we all have to sleep together, you need to bathe tonight. Why are you changing behind the divider?” Kaida teased, leaning forward to grab the dango container off the edge of the bed and carefully open the container. “What’s wrong? Shisui worried I'll see something,” She laughed at hearing Shisui answer.

“Please… I don’t think there's anything that can embarrass you…” Shisui teased back as he changed for bed behind the divider. “Besides, I think my dear baby cousin might kill me for changing in front of you right now… Don’t feel like fighting him,”

Kaida hummed, taking a bite out of one of the dango treats, “You’re dramatic,” she teased, eyes taking in the painting on the wooden divider. A beautiful sense depicting a crane in a garden.

“No… I’m just being honest… You two need to start dating or, better yet, just get married. That works too,” Shisui teased, knowing that comment would get a smart remark from the little Firecracker.

Kaida’s resort died in her mouth, mouth going dry at the sight of Itachi walking out of the bathroom in a yukata tied so loosely she could see his bare damp chest. His long wet black hair was hanging around him.

“Kaida?” Shisui asked, looking up, wondering what caught the girl's attention so much, smirking when he saw his cousin.

“Huh?” Kaida breathed in through her nose, placing the dango down. Light eyes moving up and down Itachi's form watching as Itachi made his way towards her.

“Are you going to scoot over?” Itachi asked, amusement clear in his voice, a smirk streaking on his face at his cousin's laughter from behind the divider.

“Shut up, Shisui…” Kaida hissed, scooting over towards the wall, making room for Itachi. Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to wrangle her thoughts. Trying to turn them away from the entirely not innocent thing she was thinking about Itachi, right now he was her Captain. _‘He’s not your boyfriend… Bad thought… Bad thoughts,’_ she scolded herself.

Amusement and pride filled Itachi at Kaida’s flustered look, making his chest swell. He smiled, sliding under the covers beside her, glad he could make her feel the same emotions she made him feel with just the sight of her. Reaching over, Itachi let his long fingers curling around Kaida’s bare wrist, “Are you going to share that last two?” his smile widened when Kaida just nodded, handing him the dango.

“If anyone chares…” Shisui started making his way towards the bathroom towel wrapped around his hop and yukata in hand, “I’m going to bathe. Since it has been demanded that I must,”

**………..**

Shisui blinked, reaching up to rub his eyes, trying to rub the sleep from them rolling on his back. He yawned, stretching out his arms and legs. He blinked when he didn’t feel anyone next to him. _‘Wasn’t Kaida in the middle last night,’_ he thought, slowly rolling over, wondering if the girl had gotten up already, “Well, would you like me to give you two some alone time?” he laughed wide awake now. He couldn’t believe he saw. Itachi with his arms around Kaida, brushing his hands through the girl’s hair, and she had her face pressed up against his bare chest. _‘Man, I wish I had my camera,’_

Itachi shot his cousin a dark look over Kaida’s head, “She isn’t awake... Hush,”

Shisui shook his head, looking to his cousin, “So you thought you would just hold her since you woke up first-”

“No, I woke up with her in my arms like this,” Itachi answered softly, dark eyes softening as he looked down at the women in his arms, heat rising to his cheeks.

“You too are too much… Itachi, I’m going to go get ready,” Shisui shook his head, pushing himself up off the bed. Once he was up, he looked back at Kaida and Itachi, “She still asleep, man… That girl usually wakes up at the slightest sound,” he commented before grabbing his bag to go change.

Kaida sighed contentedly, turning towards the source of warmth burrowing closer, wiggling as she burrowed closer to the firm source of warmth. Vaguely aware of being coaxed into consciousness by the soft drag of calloused fingers over her scalp. Kaida sighed, hands sliding from fabric to brush over a hard, bare broad chest… _‘Chest… Itachi…’_ blinking, she tiredly opened her eyes to see Itachi's broad, muscular chest under her hands. Her hands had pushed his yukata apart in her sleep to bury her face into the warmth of his chest. Kaida tilted her head up. She could fill one of Itachi's strong arms supporting her head wrapping around her back. His other arm laid on top of her. Kaida sighed, relaxing back into his embrace as Itachi continued to brush his fingers through her hair. Kaida smiled as Itachi opened his dark eyes enough to look down at her. Thumbs brushing across his chest unconsciously, she wondered when they ended up like this. Her with her face buried against his chest, tucked into his chest with his arms wrapped around her. Enjoying the warmth of his embrace, how tightly he held her. She felt safe and warm. Pressing her face into his chest, she laughed, pressing against him to try and hide her laughter.

“Well, aren't we in a good mood,” Itachi spoke softly, voice coming out as a whisper curling his fingers in her hair.

“You are too,” Kaida shot back, not moving from where she was tucked against him, breath fanning across his chest.

“I slept well last night,” Itachi hummed against the top of her head, fingers moving through her long silk-like hair.

"Don't we need to get up?" Kaida asked, skin tingling as Itachi's finger moved from her hair to her arm. She breathed in deeply, feeling the rumble of his chest under her hands and cheek. The heat from his fingers through her yukata lulling her back to sleep.

“Not yet… We’re fine… We can sleep for a little longer if we want,” Itachi answered, pulling Kaida's warm body closer to his. Thanking God, he had woken before she did, giving himself enough time to calm his body and push dark thoughts about the women in his arms to the back of his mind before her waking. The last thing he wanted was Kaida waking up and feeling his arousal against her. _‘That would have been disrespectful to her,’_ he scolded himself, worried that he would disrespect the woman in his arms. Which was the last thing he wanted.

Kaida sighed, tucking her head under Itachi's chin listening to his deep voice. _‘Even as early in the morning as it is, and he’s talking in a whisper... He sounds ridiculously seductive,’_ she thought, sighing, “Is Shisui up yet?”

“He’s in the bathroom getting changed…”

“We should get up, Itachi… Shisui’s going to give us hell,” Kaida breathed in, pushing herself up, hands still on Itachi’s chest as she pulled her knees under her, sitting up on her knees in the bed.

Itachi blinked slowly. Breath caught in his throat when she pushed him to his back, pushing herself up on her knees, Mind supplying other images from their sparing, pushing the images out of his mind with a deep breath. Itachi nodded, sitting up himself.

“Too late, Firecracker....” Shisui snickered, leaning against the bathroom door. He wanted to laugh. They had been so caught up in each other right then they hadn’t noticed him. _‘Ah… I want a love like that,’_ he thought to himself, letting his eyes slip closed.

“Go get dressed…” Itachi said, nodding towards the bathroom. Sure, they had undressed in front of each other before. He had always given her privacy by turning his back, though it’s not like he hasn’t seen her naked before. He always wanted to give her privacy when he could. “I’ll get ready out here,” Itachi said, pushing himself up out of bed, moving to go through his bag, pulling out a fresh change of clothes. Turning his head, Itachi watched Kaida’s back as she made her way to the bathroom, stopping to grab her bag and her clothes she had laid on one of the chairs the night before. Shisui sighed, moving out of the girl’s way, earning a smack to the arm for his comment. After the door shut, he turned his dark eyes on his cousin. “You aren’t helping,”

"Your little Firecracker doesn't get embarrassed, Itachi… She doesn't want me to see a thing like that because it bothers your shy ass," Shisui stated, dropping to sit at the table.

“I… Moments like that are private,” Itachi answered, changing out of the yukata into his new change of clothes for the mission. He could feel the absence of the Uchiha crest on his back, wondering briefly if his cousin missed the weight of the patch as he did. Itachi looked up at the sound of the bathroom door opening, dark eyes narrowing at the sight of Kaida in another short black skirt. Itachi schooled his features, knowing she wouldn’t be able to see his irritation. He had hoped she would go back to wearing pants after their three-day run, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to wash her clothes.

Shisui laughed, looking between his two teammates, “Let’s get this done, you two,”

Kaida grinned, joining Shisui on the ground by the table, knees folded up under her. “Itachi, are you going to seal the room,” she asked softly.

Itachi nodded, hand flying through the seals to soundproof the room so they could speak freely. “We’ll be leaving right away… The Hokage wants us to infiltrate the Hidden Sound Village. There’s intel he wants us to steal,”

“It’s a new Village, isn’t it?” Shisui asked, remembering hearing some hirer up talk about it while on guard duty.

Itachi inclined his head at his cousin’s question, “Yes… We aren’t sure who their leader is yet… They are working hard to gain recognition form the other nations,”

“Were stealing from them, so they have it from the leaf," Kaida said, leaning her elbows on the table. “How do you want to do it?”

“The lady said downstairs they are having some kind of festival… Kaida, you and I will go in. Shisui, I want you to wait outside for us...” Itachi started laying out his plan for them.

**……..**

"Those guys that set off the alarm were from…"

"I know…" Itachi answered, voice low, arms sliding from Kaida’s shoulders to wrap around her waist as he turned them, pulling her to his chest, pushing her back into an alleyway.

"We were informed that other ninjas were after this"

Itachi glanced down at the woman in his arms. She was right; they should have been informed about this part of their mission. It had posed a problem. They handled it easily without being discovered, sure, but he still would have liked to have known. Having all the facts made planning more manageable. Left no room for error. There's no way the Leaf didn't know, which means someone deliberately withheld the info from him. Itachi bristled at that anger filling him at the thought of someone intentionally putting his team in danger.

"Captain," Kaida said, pulling Itachi close, raising an eyebrow at her Captain, "The guards are following us," she quickly flicked her eyes to the side, looking out at the alleyway entrance. They had moved to the alleyway when the alarm had sounded. The village streets were starting to fill with guards strategically. She knew the village would try and keep the break in silence. They still had the advantage that the guards didn’t know who they were looking for exactly. The guards were just looking for a foreign ninja, taking them in for questioning. The busy streets were considerable aid to them. There was a reason they had chosen to infiltrate during a festival. She could feel the chakra of the guards coming closer. She huffed at his irritated look, pulling Itachi’s taller muscular frame closer, fisting her hands in his plain black shirt. “Now, Captain, is that anyway,” the glare she earned in return as Itachi pushed her back against the wall, hands tightening with a bruising grip on her hips cut off her sentence. Itachi was hoping the alley was dark enough to hide their forms, as both of them were suppressing their chakra.

“Kaida-” Itachi bit out a warning, deep voice low, only to be interrupted. Itachi’s pulse was rising, muscles tight. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the heat pooling in his veins. He didn't like the breathy tone she was using. That _fucking_ breathy tone she was speaking in was irritating, distracting, and doing terrible things to his self-control.

“Oh,” Kaida laughed, pressing her body right up against Itachi as she caught the movement of two enemy shinobi getting closer. Civilians were milling about on the busy street just outside the alleyway, enjoying the festival. Lucky for them, their clothing could still pass for a civilian dress.

Itachi sucked in a breath at feeling her tight body pressed up against his, hunching over her a little more, bending his head further towards her, every muscle tightening more as if that was possible. The heat was worse; he could swear he was on fire. This was worse than their spars when she was trying to distract him, get a rise out of him. It was getting harder and harder to ignore her antics. That had been the best sleep of his life. Feeling her touch him like this was driving him crazy. His skin was burning, where she touched him. Itachi sucked in a breath as his thumb slid up under her shirt as he tightened his grip. The rough, scared pad of his thumb brushing over her toned abs.

Kaida sighed, trying to ignore how tense Itachi felt against her. Kaida took a shuddering breath at the feeling of Itachi’s hot skin brushing her bare stomach. Skin burning where his fingers brushed against her, _‘We have to make them think we are just two people kissing... Fighting certainly isn’t an option they’d know where we are form,’_ she thought, spreading her hands out against his chest, before running one her hand up around his neck and letting the other travel up to cup his cheek, brushing a thumb under his left eye, “You are going to have to shut these off,” she whispered against his neck, flicking her eyes back to the entrance of the alley. She saw the two men that had been tracking them inter the alley, and without thinking, she let out a soft moan placing an open mouth kiss there.

Itachi sucked in a deep breath through his nose, hands digging into Kaida’s hips. He barely heard the noise at the alley entrance, with what she was doing to his neck, _‘What is she thinking,’_ before he could think any further, she was pulling his head down further, sealing her lips with his. His train of thought completely derailed as her plump lips met his with the same passion she would fight him with. His eyes were wide open, still looking down at her closed eyes as she kissed him, pressing closer to him. He gasped into the kiss when she ran her tongue against his lips, pulling on his hair, getting him to open his mouth. Itachi slipped his eyes shut with a groan as her tongue battled with his.

She could feel the chakra of the guards getting closer. Kaida felt Itachi’s hands tighten on her hips, hauling her closer to his body. Before Kaida realized what was happening, Itachi had tilted his head and pressed his body harder into hers, causing her back to dig into the wall. She moaned, tangling her hands in his hair. Itachi took that opportunity to deepen their kiss as his hands moved down under her shirt, feeling the skin of her lower back. His calloused hands stroked over the scarred skin before moving down her leather-covered backside to her bare thighs. Shocked, Kaida moaned again as Itachi kissed down her jaw, breath coming out in gasps as he squeezed her thighs, making it clear he wanted her legs up.

Her breathy moans were driving him crazy, and he wanted to hear more. Itachi let out a low moan of his own when Kaida jumped lightly, wrapping her legs around his hips and hooked her feet on the inside of his thighs as he pressed her harder into the wall behind them, returning his lips to hers in a searing kiss. Itachi kept one hand on a toned bare thigh, enjoying how much of her bare leg he could touch with her skirt scrunched up the way it was. Neither of them noticed the ninja guards walking further into the alley they were currently hiding in.

The guards looked down the alley they’d had thought they saw suspicious people slip into a little before. It hadn’t taken them long to make their way into the alley, only to see two young lovers embraced. The older of the two men hit the younger man on the shoulder, "Ah, to be that young again," he laughed as they moved along, making their way back to their post. To let their supports know their part of the villages was clear. So, whoever broke in didn’t steal anything. Nothing was missing.

"Itachi," she moaned breathlessly as he sucked and nipped bruising kisses down her neck. He nipped at her shoulder, pressing searing kisses to her shoulder at hearing his name on her lips that way. Grinning against the red flesh, he moved up her shoulder to her neck biting and sucking on the tan flesh there, earning a loud moan as he slid his large hands up under her skirt, squeezing the tight flesh of her backside. He had been dreaming of touching her again for months now, and he felt like he was on fire. Itachi moaned when Kaida pulled his hair, letting him know she wanted his attention. He removed his lips from her neck to look into her eyes. Her eyes were blown wide with desire, desire for him. He captured her lips with his again, running his tongue back against her mouth the way she had done to him. Kaida groaned, opening her mouth as Itachi slipped his tongue in.

"On a mission," they jerked their heads apart at the coughed interruption over their coms. Both were breathing heavily. Kaida took a short breath laying her head on Itachi's shoulder for a moment. Itachi took a deep breath, trying to calm not only his mind but his body. His whole body was painfully hot and tense. He had just made out with one of his best friends, touched her in ways he had only dreamed about, and completely forgot he was on a mission. _‘What's wrong with me? I had never been this distracted in my life.’_

"Itachi," Kiada called softly, leaning back up. She pressed her upper back into the wall behind her, not thinking about the way it would cause her lower half to press harder against Itachi. Itachi and Kaida both sucked in a sharp breath at the heat before Itachi hoisted her farther up on his waist. "Sorry," she said, unwinding herself from his hold.

"Kaida," Itachi said softly, hands drifting back down to her hips as she unwound herself, landing back on her feet.

"You need to turn your Sharingan off, Itachi," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning up on her toes to run her hand over his closed eyelids. Itachi tilted his head down so she could reach him, eyes slipping shut as she ran her thumb under his eye, hands sliding up to her waist.

"Still on a mission,"

Kaida and Itachi looked at each other, the heat simmering in their eyes as Shisui's coughed interruption came over again. Itachi’s breathed out lips parted slightly, his hot breath fanning across Kaida’s face. Hands fisting in the back of her tank.

Kaida’s hands slid down to rest on either side of his neck. Her eyes flicked down as her palms came to rest over his pulse. _‘His hearts beating as fast as mine,’_ she thought, breath shaky as Itachi tightened his hold on her.

"Um, if you two are done putting your clothes back on… You should probably get the hell out of there," Shisui hissed over the comms. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. They were lucky he was the only one on this mission. Both of them completely forgot where they were. They used each other's names. That was one of the biggest rules in Anbu. While on a mission, they were never to use each other actual names. Then there was the problem of what they were doing. Hell, what he heard sounded as if it belonged in a dirty film for adults. 

Itachi took a deep breath pulling himself together. Features sliding back into his emotionless mask, “We should get going,” he spoke quietly, hands falling away from Kaida’s warm body. As soon as his hand hung at his side, they stung. Itachi sighed, forcing himself to turn away from his stunning blue-haired teammate. He missed holding her, missed having her in his arm. Missed the feeling of wholeness, of home, it brought having her so close. He wanted nothing more than to pull her close and seal his lips to hers again. Make her understand that he loved her with actions because he wasn’t sure if he could get the words out. _‘What’s wrong with you,’_ he hissed at himself in his head, reprimanding himself for his thought. They were on a mission; this was hardly the time.

“Yes, yes... You really should…” Shisui hissed over coms, “Meet back out of the checkpoint,”

Kaida sucked in a breath at the sudden coolness of her skin. _‘I’m cold,’_ she thought to herself, forcing herself to ignore the goosebumps on her arms as she quickly and silently followed Itachi out of the village. Once out of the village, they both took to the trees making sure to keep their chakra masked as they used just enough to race away from the village. There was a small waterfall that they agreed to meet back at. The waterfall was hard to get to with the thick vegetation and thick gnarled trees crowding it, leaving the beautiful pool to the birds and other animals. They had found it on another mission and would sometimes use it as a checkpoint to meet back at.

Kaida sighed, dropping down beside Itachi in a crouch. Taking a deep breath, she stood up. Reaching out to steady herself as little spots swam in her vision. Hand clasping Itachi's bicep tightly. Kaida let out a soft sigh at the feeling of his hand on her lower back, leaning into him unconsciously.

“Are you okay?” Itachi asked, dark eyes moving up and down Kaida’s form. They had been running for hours. Sure, he knew she could run all day at that speed, but still, he didn’t want to push her. Not with how breathless she was feeling.

“I’m fine, just stood up too fast,” she grinned, letting go of him as she made her way closer to Shisui.

“Nice of you two to decide to rejoin the mission,” Shisui drawled from where he was leaning up against a thick low hanging branch. “What were you two genius thinking?”

“Well, the plan was to make them think we were just a couple… But well, we weren’t thinking about much of anything but… Well, do I need to spell it out for you, Shisui?’” Kaida shrugged, a hard edge slipping into her tone as she stopped right in front of Shisui. Itachi's dark eyes tracked the movement of her hand, sliding up to sit on her hip. “It was fine…”

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the way Kaida finished her sentence. Itachi sighed, pulling the scroll they had stolen from his pocket. Kaida was taking the fact that they both forgot they were on a mission easily. However, she wasn’t one to get overly concerned about anything. Itachi turned his eyes back to the sky. _‘I could have gotten us hurt. If those guards…’_ Itachi thought, mind turning down darker paths. He couldn't push down the anger he was feeling at himself for forgetting his mission, even if momentarily. _‘She’s so distracting…’_ he sighed, eyes tracking her movement again. It was hard to keep his eyes off her. She was like a magnet. Itachi watched as Kaida made her way back to his side. Itachi had to breathe in deep. His chest feeling with heat, and his heart rate picked up. His dark eyes landed on her tan neck, slowly tracking down her shoulder and chest. Her tank didn’t cover much of her shoulders and left quite a bit of her chest bare to his utter torment. His dark eyes caught on every dark, purpling bruise that he had put on her skin, wanting to reach out and run his fingers over them.

“Right… Well, I’d prefer it if you two didn't make out where I could hear every sound… My poor virgin ears…” Shisui joked, holding his hands to his ears. “Eh,” he yelled, dodging the fireball Kaida threw at him as she turned, showing him her middle finger. “Hey, now that’s not very lady-like…”

Kaida rolled her eyes, turning back to Itachi’s steel-blue gray eyes, looking up to him, a wide small breaking out on her face at the soft small on his. “Are you going to summon one of your crows?”

Itachi smiled softly at the women beside him, eyes softening as he looked at her, “Yeah,” he confirmed, raising one hand quickly moving through the hand seals to summon one of his crows. In a poof of smoke, the large black crow appeared in front of them.

“Master Itachi,” the crow nodded its head, turning to look at the people around, noticing the blue-haired female that seemed to be a constant to his master. Kaida was one of the crows' favorite people aside from his master; he knew his fellow summons felt the same. The crow wondered briefly if the female was more than just a teammate to his master. Yet. He honestly couldn't understand why his master has not made the women his mate yet, “Lady Kaida… Shisui…”

“Oh common... You still don’t like me?” Shisui called, huffing when they ignored him. _‘I summon crows too,’_ he rolled his eyes. _‘I can’t believe the damn birds like Itachi more… Once… one time I almost set that little asshole on fire. And the bird still hates me,’_

Kaida laughed, dropping to her knees in front of the crow offering her hand for him to stand on before standing back up, “Your feathers are so pretty,” she smiled, petting the bird who leaned into her touch, giving his master a pleased look at being praised and petted. “Are you hungry?”

“No, my Lady… What can I do for you and Master Itachi?”

Itachi's soft smile widened, watching his crow summons and Kaida. All the crows he summoned were fond of Kaida and even would do things she asked of them. His crows often followed her around in the village just out of concern for her safety, not bothering to listen to him when he told them she could take care of herself. They had deemed it their duty to protect her as well. Nodding to the crow’s question, Itachi held up the scroll, “This is classified… I need you to deliver it back to the village for us,”

“Right away,” the crow nodded, carefully flapping his wings lifting himself from Kaida’s hand to grab the scroll before taking off through the thick canopy into the sky.

Itachi stood for a moment watching where his crow had disappeared. They had one mission complete. Now they needed to head to the next town. Their information said Iroh would be coming too, "In the morning. We're moving out," Itachi nodded, eyes watching Kaida as she pulled her bedroll from her bag, laying it close to the fire Shisui was starting. Itachi sighed slightly, focusing on the genjutsu he layered over the area to hide them and smoke from the fire. "I'll take the first watch,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we are coming closer to when Sasuke would go to Orochmaru in Naruto. This story is meant to be another timeline. So, do you guys want Sasuke to go to Orochmaru? Yes or No? That answer will affect later chapters.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Ambush

Itachi sighed, leaning back against the trunk of the tree he was in, looking up through the canopy. He could see the moon’s light shining brightly against the darkened night sky, standing out brighter than the tiny stars beside it. Usually, he found that keeping watch over his team, watching the night sky to be peaceful. Tonight, though, he found no comfort as he kept watch over his sleeping teammates. Itachi crossed his arms as the cold breeze slipped through the tree branches blowing his hair. Itachi sighed, arms resting on his legs. He thought over what happened between him and Kaida a few nights ago, watching his breath puff out in front of him. The way they had kissed, _‘God… The way it had felt to kiss her... To hold her like that,’_ he thought, dragging a hand through his bangs. He wanted to kiss her again. Itachi sighed again. He couldn’t get her breathy moans out of his head, not that he could ever get her out of his head. Itachi growled under his breath. He had lost it on a mission and kissed her in a disrespectful way. They weren’t married, weren’t engaged.

Mind turning back to how he reacted. _‘I disrespected her… I put the mission in jeopardy… If they hadn't thought we were just a couple,’_ he thought, dark eyes narrowing as he looked down at his lap. Disappointment, filling him at losing his cool on a mission, at disrespecting the woman he loves. Itachi clenched his jaw. He needed to figure out how to control himself around her, needed to figure out how to tell her he was in love with her. But he couldn't be forgetting he was on a mission when she touched him. With a little kiss, she had him forgetting everything they were doing. All he felt was her. All that was there was her, her lips, her body, her love. She made him forget he was on a mission, him Itachi Uchiha. _‘I’ve never been this unprofessional… She recovered faster than I did,’_ he scolded himself, hand tightening on his knee. If she hadn’t reminded him to turn off his Sharingan. Itachi's dark eyes snapped up as he felt Kaida appear in front of him on the thick branch. Eyes bleeding red as he looked over her quickly before scanning their surroundings, _‘I know I didn’t miss something,’_ he thought, wondering what she was doing. _‘She should be sleeping.’_

“Can we talk about what happened, Itachi?” Kaida asked, glancing down to Shisui’s sleeping form. Things had been tense between them since rejoining Shisui. Itachi hadn't looked at her and hadn't spoken to her in nearly a week. All they had done was run, making their way towards the village Iroh was supposedly in right now. Itachi had finally allowed them to stop and make camp for the night after forcing them to run throughout the day and afternoon with no break for days again.

“It’s Captain on a mission. You know that.” Itachi cut off at the look on her face. He sighed. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, “We aren't supposed to use each other’s names,”

Kaida blinked, chest stinging like she had been slapped, sucking in a breath to try and force her emotions back. _‘He…’_ Kaida struggled, mind racing as she struggled to breathe for a moment, losing the battle with her emotions as her eyes filled with moisture. Blinking rapidly, she fought back the tears. Kaida willed the tightness in her chest to go away. Itachi had never spoken to her in that tone, had never reprimanded her for calling him by his name at night when no one could hear them. _‘Was he that mad at her for kissing him a few days ago?’_ He hadn't spoken or looked at her since _‘But at the time… I could have sworn that he felt the same… Did I read more into his actions than there was… Damn it, did I mess up our friendship that badly?’_ she wondered. Taking a deep breath, she tried to push down her emotions. _‘We have to talk… This can’t go on,’_ she took another deep breath, stealing her nerves, “Captain, can we talk about what happened… I know you are upset,” she started, eyes locking with his, “Are you mad at me?”

“No, have I ever been mad at you?” Itachi asked, deep voice coming out like a sigh. He had been irritated with her but never angry at her.

Kaida laughed softy at his question, “I’m pretty sure I drive you crazy,”

Itachi smirked at her, loving the sound of her soft laugh, “I’m not mad,”

“Somethings wrong with you… You haven’t spoken to me in a week or looked at me longer than necessary,” she pointed out, pulling one leg up to her chest as she dangled one leg from the branch. _‘Why is he so upset about kissing me?’_ she wondered. She honestly couldn't figure out why kissing her would be a problem if he felt the same way as she did.

Itachi sighed, looking over her shoulder, “I shouldn't have kissed you, Kaida-”

“Plenty of ninjas have to kiss-” She started cutting off when Itachi’s dark eyes snapped up to hers.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,”

“So, kissing me was a mistake…” She echoed steel-blue gray eyes, locking with his dark ones, praying that she would find something there. His eyes always showed his emotions. Instead, when she looked up, her eyes connected with his own. All she saw was emotionless dark eyes looking back at her. He was upset because of the way he kissed her back. Itachi was loyal, traditional. _‘I guess he really is engaged to Izumi,’_ she thought bitterly. Knowing she would have to find a way to get over it, but right now, it hurt. He had kissed with just as much passion as she kissed him, and now he was angry with himself because of that. Because he had to feel like he was betraying his promise, Itachi was a good man. He would never cheat on his betrothed. _‘Great, he finds me physically attractive, but he doesn’t love me,’_ Kaida took a shaky breath, trying to wrangle in her emotions, “Right… I’m a mistake because you have Izumi…” she said, not meaning for it to come out so bitter and angry. Voice raising in her anger. Taking a shuddering breath, trying to breathe through the pain in her chest Kaida leapt from the tree, landing beside her bag.

Itachi sucked in a breath pinching the bridge of his nose, leaping after her. _‘Why is she so difficult,’_ he growled in his thoughts, landing slightly behind her silently, “Kaida…”

“Don’t use names, right? Didn’t you say that Captain,” Kaida spun, hissing under her breath, trying to calm the anger and hurt she felt, _‘If he doesn’t want anything to do with me… Then why kiss me that way, why make me feel like…’_ she huffed, biting her lip, stopping that thought, _‘That bastard was right… Itachi is never going to love me. Look at me. I’m angry. We are on a mission. I’m smarter than this,’_ she scolded herself, recalling the hurtful, drunken words her father had thrown at her when he had realized she was starting to have feelings for Itachi.

“What are you going on about?” Itachi asked quietly, raising an eyebrow at his blue-haired teammate. She was confusing the hell out of him. _‘Why was she going on about Izumi?'_

“Why pick me right when you can have little Miss. Perfect Uchiha… She’s is not loud, obnoxious, impulsive, insubordinate, trashy, lazy, melodramatic, swine from outside the village-”

“Do you hear yourself, Kaida?” Itachi asked, interrupting her eyes narrowing at the petite woman in front of him, irritation bleeding in his voice at her word. What she was saying was absurd. _‘Where was this coming from? She has never been insecure. Or cared what people thought,’_

“Whatever,” she scoffed, remembering some of the words her father had hurled at her.

Itachi stared at her dark eyes, assessed her watery one, understanding on his face, _‘Those were words her father had spoken to her… She thinks they’re true… That I couldn’t,’_ Itachi thought, remembering when he had overheard an argument between Kaida and her father, before the man had left. The ugly, hurtful word the man had spoken. Both of them had seemed shocked when Itachi had interrupted, calling Kaida away for a mission. Kaida had talked to him about it later that day, but she had insisted she was okay. It seemed like she was okay. But clearly, she had believed her father, “Kaida,”

“I want off this team…” she hissed, eyes blazing before she turned, stalking off into the dark of the forest. Leaving a stunned Itachi staring after her.

Itachi stared after the woman who hadn’t stopped plaguing his thoughts. She filled his mind almost every waking minute. It was beginning to be absolute torture. Then she had kissed him. Itachi sucked in a breath and brought his hand up to his chest as he bent over, bracing himself against the tree. He could barely breathe through the searing pain in his chest. _‘What did I do?’_ Itachi asked himself, wondering why every time they talked, it went so bad recently. Since when could they not understand each other. He hadn’t meant what she had thought he meant, he was trying to explain, but she had just gotten angry. _‘It … She made me forget I was on a mission,’_ he hissed at himself in his head, still reprimanding himself for losing his professionalism on a mission. He had forgotten the mission. That could have gotten either Kaida or Shisui hurt. _‘She thinks I don’t want to be with her…’_ he thought, hand dragging through his bangs. She was the only thing in the world that drove his mind to that point. Kaida was the only thing that could make him forget where he was. When he was with her touching her, he couldn’t think beyond anything that wasn’t her. She did that with one kiss. One kiss he had dreamed of for months, and the real-life thing was the best feeling, having her in his arms. Nothing could compare to that feeling. She made him feel alive, made him feel like himself. He just... He loved everything about her, even the things about her that drove him mad. Like her impulsiveness, her temper. _‘I made her feel like I was playing with her feelings…’_

Shisui blinked, pushing himself up off the ground, _‘What's that sound?’_ he wondered, eyes searching around to find Itachi sitting up against a tree. Standing up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, making his way over to his cousin, “Itachi?”

“Why can’t I just tell her,” he asked his cousin softly, looking down at his hands on his thighs.

“What the hell, Itachi?” Shisui asked quietly, staring at his cousin, “What happened?” he asked after a beat knowing this had to have to do with Kaida. _‘What happened while I was asleep?’_

Itachi sucked in a breath, not answering Shisui, ignoring the warm, wet tracks that ran down his face. Itachi’s grip on his thighs tightened, breath deepening, coming in shorter spans. Itachi’s mouth thinned, lips pulling tight as the pain in his chest intensified, _‘She’s in pain too,’_ he thought miserably, head hitting the back of the tree. Kaida was upset, so emotionally distraught that he felt like someone was stabbing him, and he was the cause of it. Itachi took a shuddering breath, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He felt like scum. What kind of man was he? That he couldn’t even tell the woman, he loved how he felt. That he kept upsetting her, kept hurting her. The blurring sting in his eyes forced them closed. When he was able to open them again, the world was painted red.

“Okay… See, you are really scaring me now, Itachi, because you don't cry…” Shisui dropped to his knees beside his cousin, looking around for Kaida. _‘What the hell happened,’_ he wondered, wishing to god the little Firecracker would just appear. She knew how to deal with Itachi in every mood. No one could calm him like her. But he had a feeling Itachi was this distraught because of the little blue-haired pixie. “Itachi, where's Kaida? Did you two fight?” he asked gentler this time.

Itachi's breath hitched quietly when an even sharper pain stopped his breath. Taking a short gasping breath, Itachi calmed himself enough to talk and explain the fight to his cousin.

“Itachi… For the love of… Just tell her the things you're thinking… Talk to her. Damn, man… Stop… For fucks sake, just talk to her. Tell her all about Izumi, tell her everything… She doesn't think you love her, doesn't think you could… You need to talk to her crazy ass,” Shisui hissed out, voice taking on an irritated edge. His cousin was a genius, and he couldn't talk to the woman he was in love with. “Look... What are you thinking right now?”

“Someone could hurt her out there as upset as she is… She isn’t thinking clearly… She’s so upset. It’s like her heart is breaking,” Itachi breathed out in a shaky voice, hands brushing his bangs back.

Shisui blinked at Itachi's words, taking a minute to think over exactly what his cousin said. Uchiha felt things a lot more strongly than ordinary people. This, this wasn’t that. Itachi was saying that he knew what Kaida was feeling, “Are you saying you know what she is feeling?”

Itachi finally lifted his head to look at his cousin, “I can feel it… I feel her pain, every emotion she feels… I don’t. I wasn't sure at first, but I can… I don't know how this is possible,”

Shisui blinked, sitting back on his heels as he stared into Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan “Itachi-”

“Kaida’s an amazing ninja, but right now...” Itachi left off there, worry filling him despite knowing just how talented his Kaida was. She was one of the top Anbu agents in the leaf. She was on his squad, after all. But he couldn’t help the fear and worry that seized his heart. Ignoring the hot, tacky sensation of his tongue against his palate, disregarding the wetness against his cheeks and the pain in his chest Itachi pushed himself up, stopping to grab his tanto blade. The same one Kaida had given to him six years ago now. “She’s too upset to pay attention to her surroundings. I shouldn’t have let her walk away,”

Shisui stood spinning on his heels. “Itachi!” he exclaimed, worry lacing his words, at suddenly seeing his baby cousin slam to the ground on his knees, a hand flying to his side. In a flash, he was at Itachi’s side, “What’s wrong?”

“Kaida…” Itachi gasped past the searing cracking pain in his side, struggling for a moment to take in a breath as a similar pain slammed into his chest. “Somethings wrong…” He hissed out, pushing Shisui’s hands off him as he forced himself to his feet. Sucking in a deep calming breath.

“Where are you going?” Shisui asked, staring after his cousin, who now looked as if nothing was wrong, whereas a minute ago, he thought someone had managed to hurt Itachi without either of them noticing.

“To find her… I need-”

“Yeah,” Shisui sighed, interrupting his cousin, eyes rolling up the sky for a moment, “I know… I’m coming,” he called, leaping up into the trees taking off after Itachi.

**… _….._**

Kaida took a shaky breath stalking through the forest, swiping at the tear streak streaming down her face as she walked. "I'm so, fucking stupid…" she hissed at her herself through gasping tears. Hiccups were interrupting her breathing. _'Of course, he doesn't care… Stupid, you should have never hoped… All your good for is a distraction from duty and honor,'_ she thought, trying to control her breathing through the sting pain in her chest. Kaida stopped waking at the sound of leaves rustling, hair standing on the back of her neck. Light eyes taking in the darkness around her, something was wrong. Years in Anbu had taught her to trust her senses. _‘Shit… I don’t have my tanto… I’ll have to use my fire and jutsu to defend myself,’_ Kaida thought, forcing her breaths to come slower, calming herself.

Suddenly she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Twisting, Kaida barely had time to block the dark-cloaked figures. Skidding back from the force of the blow her forearm took. Standing straight, she faced the five cloaked men armed with katanas in front of her. _‘Fuck,’_ she thought, throwing a fireball twisting at the sound of breathing behind her suddenly, _‘I missed one,’_ she growled at herself, engaging the man now attacking her, but this man was faster than the others, faster than her. She hissed, paying for her mistake as she received a powerful blow to the chest. The impact knocked her back, knocking the wind from her lungs. Kaida ground, rolling over as quick as she could as she struggled to catch her breath. _‘He broke my ribs,’_ she thought, pain blossoming in her side and chest as she forced herself up to her feet as the man pulled out a katana charging her. Kaida twisted and turned to avoid the katana blades swung her away, barely breathing through the pain as she fought the armed men off barehanded. They were all attacking at once, keeping the experienced Anbu busy defending herself. Kaida gritted her teeth as she ducked, tilting her head to the side as she avoided two katana strikes. One aimed for her eye, the other for her jugular. Twisting her body, she grabbed the man's hand, flipping up, kicking the other five men away from her in a roundhouse kick leg covered in flames. Twisting her body more, she landed on the man's shoulder, the one that had broken her ribs. Keeping her grip on his arm, she wrapped one leg around his neck and flipped forward, snapping his neck as she twisted the sword from his hands, landing over his body. Looking up through blue bangs falling from her braid, she was glad these men were now giving her a wide breadth. Eyes flicking down at the feeling of the man under her chest expand, “Oh, your friend is still alive… Suffering, suffocating,” she glared at them and shoved the blade through the barley breathing man's throat before letting fire bleed from the hand she had pressed to the dead man's chest consuming him. She raised an eyebrow as the men waved their hands through hand signs making shadow clones. _‘Well, that’s not going to help them,’_

“Kill her… I don’t care what kind of deal the Uchiha made,”

 _‘Is about my mission with the Hokage and the council… Who is the Uchiha that is the traitor?’_ Kaida thought, eyes narrowing on the tallest of them, though he wasn't quite as tall as Shisui or Itachi. She hissed in pain, flipping out of the way of a hail of kunai, as she engaged the now numerous men. _‘One down four to go… Got to deal with the clones too,’_ she counted, using her stolen sword to block the attacks. _‘These are Danzo’s men. So, whoever the mole is… There working with him. Why?’_ she wondered. Making quick work of half of the clones with a massive fireball jutsu, before weaving her other hand signs, “Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu,” she called, grinning even as her breath was coming in short heavy pants now. “Your clones are gone, so is another man… Down to four,” she taunted, glaring at the men, who now stood far away from her.

The men glared at the small women. She was stronger than they remembered and mouthier. “I’m going to enjoy spilling your blood,” one growled as they all four charged her.

“Who sent you?” Kaida huffed, barely managing to force two of the men back a few paces before dropping low, knocking one of the man’s legs out from under him. Taking the opportunity of him on his back, she drove her blade through this neck, severing his arteries. _‘Three more,’_ she thought, as her eyes snapped up at the loud sound of a crow’s call. Covering her blade in fire, she blocked the man bearing down on her with two swords, glancing up to see Itachi’s crows swooping down. She gasped as another blade came thrusting towards her neck, barely avoiding it. Itachi’s large black bird made contact with one of the men, his talons clawing at the man's eyes, giving Kaida enough time to twist his sword from his hands, shoving the blade to the hilt into the stomach of the man that just tried to put his through her neck.

“You little bitch... Always could fight,” another familiar voice growled, coming at her harder with his teammate at his side. She had killed four of them. Though what could they expect from someone on Itachi Uchiha's team. The men growled and finally managed to knock both weapons from her hands. One spun to kick her, forcing Kaida to block his leg with her arms again, missing the kick to her stomach, knocking her back on to her back.

Kaida groaned, coughing up blood as she pushed herself up, setting the ground on fire in front of her. Light eyes catching on a new figure in a hood dark cloak standing in front of the three advancing men.

“Just what do you all think you are doing?... They don’t want her dead,” the new hooded figure hissed.

“I owe that little bitch some pain-” the newly blinded man started.

“You will obey… Or do you want me to let her kill you,”

Kaida coughed, struggling to hear the men over puking blood, _‘Did they just say Taro and Danzo don’t want me dead,’_ she thought, light eyes narrowing as she struggled to breathe.

“My lady, are you okay?” the crow asked, landing on the ground in front of her black eyes, watching the men still standing. _‘_ She had done well on her own, but where was his master?

“Go get Itachi… My ribs are broken, so is my arm… Don’t know how long I can hold them off,” she coughed, spitting up blood as she struggled to her feet through the pain. _‘I’ll have to go to long-range attacks,’_

“Right away, my lady,” the crow nodded his head, taking off towards where he sensed his master. His master was already headed this way, _‘Good,’_ the bird thought, flying towards Itachi, ‘that means my lady won’t be left alone for long.’ It didn’t take the large crow long to spot his master hopping through the trees, letting out a loud swack. He called his master's attention, landing on his shoulder as the man stopped on a tree branch, “My master, Lady Kaida has been attacked, and she has been injured…” the bird said urgently as his master untied a scroll from his leg slipping it into his pocket. The massive crow raised one of his wings before heading off towards the battle again with his master in toe along with the other one.

Itachi nodded, forcing his breaths to come evenly. All this pain was from her. He knew that “I know… How bad?” he asked, unable to keep the worry from his voice.

“Bad… She says her ribs are broken, and so is her arm… She is coughing and puking blood,” The crow spoke, flying to land on his master shoulder again as they came to a stop. The crow turned his head, eyes catching on his master hand digging into the tree. He could feel the killing intent seeping out of his master. The crow cooed in approval, eyes glancing over at the gasp coming from Shisui, whose dark eyes were focused on Kaida. The crow turned small black eyes on the girl. She was on one knee now with a kunai in her shoulder, cutting through the fabric of her coat. Blood still came from her mouth as she held her sword in front of her, a fire dragon forcing the three men attacking her back a few paces. Finally knocking one of their hoods off. “Your mate needs help,” the crow stated before poofing away. His master would call when he was needed once again.

“Itachi… That’s one of Danzo Anbu…” Shisui glared, red eyes blazing, “That’s the one that poisoned me,” Shisui turned his eyes on his cousin before turning back to the battle below. They were still hidden in the leaves masking their chakra, ‘Kaida’s in no condition to fight,’ Shisui thought, pulling a kunai getting ready to jump when Itachi’s hand landed on his shoulder, long finger digging painfully into him. He turned his eyes back to his baby cousin to see the Mangekyō Sharingan alive in his eyes. “We have to help her,” he hissed quietly.

“Rushing in will not help her,” Itachi stated, voice-controlled and calm. He needed to be careful. He was angry; he needed to calm himself. Itachi breathed through his nose, trying to ignore the pain he felt coming from Kaida.

Shisui took a deep breath, calming himself, “Okay… But she can’t stand... Itachi.”

Itachi’s eyes narrowed as the man Shisui identified as being the one who poisoned him made his way closer to Kaida. “Amaterasu,” he called quietly, watching as his black flames started to cover the man making his way toward Kaida while matching black flames stretched out in front of her. “Sneak up behind the blind one,” Itachi ordered, nodding his head toward the man with claw marks over his eyes before disappearing from the tree breach only to appear at Kaida’s side. Mangekyō eyes blazing at the leader.

Kaida blinked, watching Itachi’s black flames stretch out protectively in front of her, tuning out the screams of the man advancing towards her as he fell to the ground, black flames burning his body to nothing in seconds. Without being able to stand up, her head snapped up, eyes landing on Itachi’s tall, broad frame, anger flooding her as he stood next to face passive, _‘He’s angry,’_ she thought, eyes narrowing at his expression she didn’t know how she knew that. But she did. She just knew he was angry, _‘He’s going to kill that man,’_ she thought, eyes snapping over just in time to catch Shisui slicing the man Itachi’s bird had blinded in two. Leaving only the leader of the group that had attacked her, _‘They can’t kill him… I need,’_ she thought, desperately thinking of who to stop them. She was tried, and her fire could compare to Itachi black flames. Her eyes widened at seeing the man weave hand signs, _‘He’s going to try attacking us with a fire jutsu,’_ she thought, willing the black flame higher to protect her and Itachi, at the same time imaging him trapped inside the black flames.

Itachi stared, shocked, watching his black flames from a shield in front of him and Kaida absorbing the impact of the fire jutsu amid at Kaida and Itachi while imprisoning its caster in a tight ring of black flames forcing the man to stand perfectly still. _‘I... Can’t control those flames beyond putting them out…’_ he thought, red eyes turning to Kaida. Itachi dropped to the ground beside her when she started coughing. His large hand going to her back gently, fear groping his heart at the blood coming from her mouth.

Shisui, body flickered behind them, red eyes wide at what he saw, _‘Did she just control Itachi’s… No, that’s not possible,’_ he thought, eyes narrowing on the man now trapped, “Itachi… Did you?” he asked, wondering if his cousin had figured out how to control the flames at some point and not told him. What did it matter if he used his name? These men knew who they were.

“No…” Itachi answered, pulling Kaida’s right arm around his waist as he wrapped both his arms gently around her, lifting her to her feet, keeping her against his side. Itachi gritted his teeth, feeling no sense of relief at having her in his arms this time. She was leaning too heavily against him, breath coming unevenly as she coughed up blood onto his chest. The smell of her blood wafting up to his nose.

“Their Danzo’s… Men… Itachi,” She spoke into his chest, wide eyes not moving from the black flames, _‘What made them move? Did I?’_ she wondered,

Shisui inclined his head; he had guessed as much from the man he had seen, “We need to Kill-”

“No,” she gasped, cutting Shisui off, “They... Attacked me... For a... Reason... I need to know,”

“They ambushed you? Why?” Itachi asked, voice low and cold, catching Kaida’s attention. She hadn’t heard his voice that angry in years, not since the massacre.

Kaida tilted her eyes up, locking on Itachi’s strong jaw, clenched tight. _‘I have to tell him,’_ she thought, hand tightening in in the fabric of his shirt. She couldn’t keep her mission a secret from him, not when it affects his life, not when they were attacking her on a mission. Kaida sucked in a breath. She was just worried about how he would react. The Hokage and the council could go screw themselves; she trusted him completely. Despite the complication they were having personally right now, she’d get over that. _‘So, what if he doesn't love me… He’s still my friend…’_

“Kaida…” Itachi stressed, red eyes locking on hers, she looked terrible, and she was asking him not to hurt the man responsible. Asking him not to defend her. That wasn't who he was.

Shisui stood behind Kaida and Itachi, keeping most of his attention on their trapped enemy as he watched the way they looked at each other momentarily. Still keeping their focus divided, they were talented enough to split their attention. _‘They have to work their shit out,’_ he thought, knowing the two people in front of him loved each other. He held his opinion, pushing back his anger and curiosity, waiting for Kaida to continue.

Kaida coughed again, turning her face into Itachi’s chest, not able to bring her broken arm up to cover her mouth and needing to keep her right arm around him. Itachi sighed, brushing some of the blood from her face away gently before replacing his now blood-covered hand on her hip. Red eyes glaring at his hand; her blood was covering his hand, his chest. Kaida sucked in a breath, “You remember... When the... Hokage called me…”

“Hey, Kaida, maybe you should-”

“There's… A traitor in the… Uchiha compound,” she coughed again, “That’s why… That…”

“Why not call Itachi or me?” Shisui asked, interrupting her struggling speech, worried for her health. Something was wrong, making her speak like that. _‘I’ve never seen Kaida injured this bad… Hell, the cuts to her back… That’s the worst I’ve ever seen,’_

Itachi’s jaw tightened, “What did they ask you to do?” he growled, guessing why they called her and not him or his cousin. _‘They either think it’s me or Shisui, which means the traitor is laying a convincing trail,’_

“They… Asked… Me to… To… Kill… You,” She spoke, voice shaky, having to stop to gasp down air, head leaned up against his chest to look at him. _‘I’m getting tired,’_

“Why am I not dead?” Itachi asked, voice cold, jaw tight as his red eyes turned down to meet her light ones. He smirked when he found an offending angry look directed at him, _‘That injured, and she can look at me like that,’_ he let out a small chuckle, “I know you wouldn’t kill me… But you disobey a direct order-”

“I… Made… A deal… To prove… You are… Innocent… Because you… Are a good… Man… A loyal… Man,”

Itachi’s eyes widened, not moving from her, fear gripping his heart, “What kind of deal did you make with the council?”

“The… Kind they… Would listen… to…” Kaida started, cutting off another coughing fit pressing close to Itachi again. Stinging tears in her eyes at the intense pain she was coughing about as she pressed her face hard into Itachi. Itachi sucked in a breath, her pain filling him. He could feel her injuries. Sucking in a sharp breath at the pain and fear, gripping his heart Itachi tanged a hand in her loosening braid, holding her head close. Having to bend his head low to hear her whisper against him, “We… need-”

“Shisui, take Kaida…” Itachi spoke, voice deepening with his anger. The council, the Hokage, was using Kaida. They were going to send her on missions that he had taken as a root member. He couldn’t believe she had made such a ridiculous deal, and for what? To protect him. She could be killed on those missions she agreed to take. These people had come after her with the intent to kill her because of him. Members of his family were betraying their village.

“Itachi..." She started hand sliding up his chest. It spoke volumes of her trust in him that she was willing to turn her back on an enemy. Trusting him, trusting his eyes, his power to protect her. Trusting him to hold her up.

Itachi’s eyes didn’t move from the man trapped inside his black flames, where Kaida had trapped him, tightening the black flames on the man with her mind. Red eyes spinning as they narrowed at the man, the man in charge of the dead men littering the ground. “You’re hurt, Kaida. Badly... Go with Shisui. We need a new camp for the night. I’ll finish interrogating him and deal with the evidence,”

Kaida glanced back at the man, then to the dark look on Itachi’s face. She had never seen him so angry before, “You need to calm down,”

“I’m calm,” he spoke softly, hands sliding to her hips to push her gently towards Shisui. “Go,” he said again, keeping his hold on her till Shisui had an arm around her, steading her. _‘She’s going to need a medic. We’ll have to head into town,’_

Kaida stood there with Shisui’s arm around her, staring at Itachi’s back. The hard-blank look on his handsome face was hiding the searing anger she knew he was feeling. It bothered her. _‘The last time he was this angry was the massacre,’_ she thought worriedly.

“Kaida…” Itachi spoke, voice still calm as he turned his head slightly, keeping one red eye on their enemy and one on Kaida. He could see purpling bruise starting to appear on her chest and arm, “I gave you an order,”

Kaida’s eyes narrowed, arms crossing, “Itachi-”

“Hey, Firecracker… Let’s just go… You are in no condition to fight,” Shisui said, softly stepping in before an argument could start. Itachi was angrier than Shisui had seen him in a long time, and Kaida’s irritation and worry were a bad combination at the moment. “Come on, girl.” he tried again, gently grabbing her arm. Kaida sighed, glaring at Shisui crouched form. Rolling her eyes, she moved onto his back. Shisui laughed at her gasping curses as he took to the trees. Listening to Kaida sucking in pain-filled breaths. _‘At least she isn’t dying on me,’_ he thought, jumping as carefully as he could. Itachi would find them, Kaida knew that, but she worried about what he would do in his anger.

Itachi stood red eyes watching the man till he was sure Kaida and Shisui were gone. Slightly moving a few paces closer to the man, his face passive.

“Torture me. I’m not talking,”

Itachi smirked, red eyes spinning. “I don’t need you to talk,” he said darkly, just as the man dropped to the ground, body falling into the black flames. Itachi stood watching the man burn to nothing before extinguishing his flames.

**…….**

"Why is Shisui bleeding?" came Itachi’s deep voice. He raised an eyebrow at the cold look Kaida shot him. Shisui just grabbed a new rag, not meeting his gaze. Itachi's dark eyes flicked back to Kaida, whose shoulders were raising unevenly, _‘She having trouble breathing,’_

"He's... An idiot,"

“She is puking blood and won’t let me look at her… Won’t even let me pull the kunai from her shoulder… Punched me,” Shisui hissed, holding the rag to his nose to ease the bleeding, “We need to set that broken arm… I think she has a punctured lung,” he said, glaring at the pouting blue-haired girl. Damn stubborn woman, wouldn’t let him help fix her up. When he had tried to push her, her crazy ass had broken his nose, though he supposed he should have supped it. She did manage to kill a lot of the men who attacked her while injured.

Kaida growled, lights eyes narrowing on Shisui, as a fireball appeared in her hand, “Stop... Talking about... Me... Like I’m… Not here,” She gasped out, struggling for breath now.

Itachi looked back at Shisui, who sat holding a rag to his bleeding broken nose, as Kaida started coughing into her hand, cradling her broken arm to her chest. She was covered in her blood and what Itachi was betting was blood from the men she killed. Itachi’s dark eyes meet the worried eyes of his cousin, “Shisui… Can you head into town and see if there is a medic?”

Shisui threw his rag to the ground, nodding his head, “Yeah,” he answered, heading for the mouth of the cave before taking to the trees. They weren’t that far from the town. It was a large gambling town. Surely there was a medic there that could help Kaida. They could always wipe the medics’ mind.

Itachi breathed in through his nose, ingoing the sharp, stabbing pain in his chest, side, and arm. _‘She’s hurt this bad… And stubborn enough to be this difficult and break Shisui’s nose,’_ he thought, dark eyes watching her tense frame seated too close to the fire for any normal person. The flames were lighting up the cave casting a glow on her tan skin. Itachi’s eyes didn’t move from Kaida. Her thick braid hanging down her back, fire cast a bright glow on her light hair, turning some of the light strands almost white in the light. His dark eyes took in her poster as she shifted to look at him. One leg bent in front of her. The other stretched out, her broken arm still held to her chest. Icy gripped his heart as his dark eyes took in the tenseness of her muscles. Her pain was crushing his heart. Itachi took a breath to calm himself; if he could, he would go back and kill the men who did this. He was covered in her blood, her blood soaking his shirt. Itachi walked toward her, silently kneeling beside her holding her tired gaze, "Kaida, since when does idiocy cause one to bleed spontaneously from the nose?" he asked, hand sliding over her cafe.

"I... Believe it's... A... New... Phenomenon," she answered, staring at his large hand on her calf. His hand was large enough for his finger to touch when he wrapped his hand around her cafe.

Itachi sucked in a breath as the pain sharped in his chest. That pain had brought him to his knees. Pain from her wound. Pain he had caused her. Her pain at his misspoken words had made him cry at knowing what he had made her feel. Pain that was worse than the feeling of using his Mangekyō Sharingan. He knew she had been confused and upset when he had refused to speak to her about their kiss in the village they were acquiring information from. He hadn’t spoken to her because he honestly hadn’t known what to say happened between them. But then she had confronted him before he had been able to think everything through. He had been angry with himself for forgetting the mission, for disrespecting her. Itachi was still mad at himself for what happened between them. They were on a mission, one that was dangerous. They had just been ambushed. _‘Kaida has never been hurt his way… She never allowed an enemy to land so many blows on her. Let alone to sneak up on her… She was distracted because of me,’_ he scolded himself, blaming himself for Kaida’s injuries. He had let her leave when he should have stopped her, should have made himself clear then. Now she was hurt; if he had just forced her to stay with him, he could have protected her.

“Itachi…” Kaida asked, reaching her right hand up to push his bang from his face. He looked like he was going to cry.

“I’m sorry…”

Kiada started trying to push down how hurt she felt. She knew she was in love with her best friend. It only made matters worse that he was also her teammate and captain. She had been having feelings for Itachi that didn't count as friendship since they were thirteen, and it had only gotten worse. But she just had to go and get carried away and kiss him, and to her utter surprise, he had kissed her back, kissed her back like he had been craving her as much as she had been him. Touched her in ways she had dreamed of him touching her for months, now. She had thought nothing could feel better than his hands on her back again. Then, he had touched her the way he had in that alley. Kaida sucked in a breath thinking back to it. Her body had felt like a living fire. She couldn’t think with his hands on her like that. She thought the way he kissed her had meant he felt the same for her as she did for him, but he had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her feelings, now. "I... Shouldn’t..."

“Shut up, your hurt,” Itachi’s eyes snapped up to her wide blue ones, “Kaida… You are going to let me help you till Shisui gets back with a medic, and god help me if you don’t keep that mouth shut, I’m going to knock you out,” he said deep voice coming out a little harsher than he wanted with how thick of emotions were making his voice. He couldn’t handle hearing her almost choking again. Just seeing her cough up, all the blood was killing him. “Understand?”

Kaida blinked, eyes wide at the wetness in Itachi's eyes, as she nodded her head slowly at him. _‘I can count on one hand all the times I've seen him cry and still have fingers left…’_ she thought, wanting to pull him into a hug, but somehow, she was sure he wouldn't take a hug from her at the moment.

“Good,” Itachi sighed, standing up to grab their medkit before rejoining Kaida by the fire. Itachi gently pulled the kunai from the shoulder of her broken arm, eyes snapping up at the sound of her gritting teeth. “I need to take your jacket off,” he said softly, waiting for her to nod before gently starting to pull her jacket from her broken arm, being careful not to jostle her arm too much. Throwing the ruined blood-soaked jacket to the side, Itachi turned to open the medkit, removing some bandage, carefully wrapping her upper shoulder to stop the bleeding. “Okay… I need to set your arm and split it,” he sighed, dark eyes narrowing at the dark purple bruising on her arm. His eyes moved up at another coughing fit, waiting for her to finish.

Kaida gasped, sucking in a breath. She nodded at Itachi to go ahead. Gritting her teeth as his warm hands ghosted over her sore arm, light eyes roving over his face. His dark eyes were narrowed, jaw tight, but not tense in anger. _‘He looks like he's in pain,’_ she thought, eyes tracing the small changes on his face.

"Do you know how crazy you drive me?” He asked flatly, raising an eyebrow. She drove him crazy. She was moody, impulsive, and had the worst temper, and the craziest thing of all was that he liked it. He loved her moodiness even when it irritates him and drives him crazy; hell, he even liked her impulsiveness, which drove him up a wall the most. He almost laughed at the look Kaida shot him. Taking a deep breath, stealing himself before moving her bones back into place. Itachi sucked in a breath at the sound of snapping her bones back into place, pushing her pain from his mind. He needed to focus on her right now. His heart hurt for her. She had stayed silent through him, resetting her arm, tears leaking out of her eyes. _‘She has a high pain tolerance, but anyone would be reaching their limit right now,’_ Itachi let his eyes close. Holding her arm in his open palm, reaching for the splint, fixing it tightly over her arm before coving her arm and the splint in bandages up to her elbow. Itachi’s eyes snapped up to her face at the change in her posture. Itachi swore his heart skipped a beat when he looked up, finding her eyes slipping closed. Itachi moved forward leg swing over her to catch Kiada before she fell towards the fire, one hand under her neck, one around her back gently lowering her to the ground to keep her from hurting herself worse. Itachi shifted himself quickly from being kneeled over her to kneeling at her side. Leaning down, he laid his head against her chest, listening to her heart and breathing. Her heart was beating slowly but steady, _‘She’s not breathing anymore,’_ Itachi felt panic fill him. Taking a breath to calm himself, he gently tilted her head back, leaning forward to breathe into her in her mouth, turning his eyes back to her chest. Looking for her lungs expanding. Itachi’s eyes narrowed at his red filled vision. His Sharingan catching only one side of her chest expanding. _‘She has a collapsed lung… Hurry up, Shisui,’_


	18. Chapter Eighteen:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about adding some art to the story. Would you guys like to see drawings of Kaida and Keina? Their sister? Kaida and Itachi? Keina and Kakashi?

Itachi jerked back, gently turning Kaida at the sound of her soft coughing. Relief, steading his heart as her eyes barely opened. _‘Thank you, Kami,’_ he prayed in his head, leaning down, pressing a bloody kiss to her temple, her cheek, then her lips. He paid no mind to the wet tracks that ran down his face and on to hers. Itachi slid a hand under her head, leaning closer to her, pressing light kisses to her cheek. “You aren’t allowed to die on me, Kaida… I… I can’t… I love you,” he cried gently, forehead pressed against hers. Itachi struggled to reign in his breathing as he stroked her cheek, brushing loose strands of hair from her face. Praying that Kami wouldn’t take her away from him, _‘Please don’t take her… I need her… She’s… I don’t know if I could live without her,’_

Kaida blinked slowly up at Itachi, his hazy image leaning over her, struggling to pull in a breath. _‘What happened?’_ she wondered, her tired eyes heavy as Itachi cried against her pressing quick kisses to her face, mumbling against her skin. Tiredly she lifted the hand of her good arm, her small hand landing on Itachi’s muscular arm. She blinked at the relief on his face as he finally pulled back enough for her to look him in the eyes. “Just not… the… way… I… love...you...” she trailed off breathlessly.

“No...” Itachi shook his head lightly, hands cradling her face gently. This wasn’t the time for this conversation, but he had to tell her. “I love you, Kaida… So, much. I love you... I love you. The way you love me. You are going to be fine,” he swore, “Shisui is going to be back…” he muttered softly, holding her tired gaze. Shisui had better get back soon. Itachi wasn't sure how much longer Kaida could make it. _'If only I knew medical ninjutsu,'_ he thought angrily to himself, wishing he could do more.

“Itachi…”

Itachi’s head snapped up at the sound of Shisui’s voice at the entrance to the cave. His dark eyes landed on the blonde woman besides his cousin, “Heal her!” he demanded, dark eyes narrowing at the woman and her dark-headed companion, pleasantries gone. Itachi felt like a rubber band pulled taut, waiting to either break or the pressure be released. He could feel Kaida’s skin cooling under his touch, could feel her labored breathing under his hand. His cousin had somehow found their village’s most renowned healer, and the woman was going to heal Kaida.

Shisui stopped in his tracks, dark eyes taking in the scene in front of him. Fear gripped his heart, seeing Itachi bent over Kaida covered in her blood. His little cousin had the girl’s blood smeared on his lips, _‘What happened?...’_ he wondered, taking in the dark look Itachi shot the woman beside him. He had been shocked to find the legendary Tsunade on her way into the town he was headed to, and he had spent a few minutes begging the woman to heal Kaida. Something she agreed to reluctantly. Now, watching the look on his cousin's face, he sent another prayer up to Kami. Shisui sighed. He wasn’t sure what Itachi would do if Kaida wasn’t okay.

Tsunade shouldered past the young man in front of her crossing her arms under her chest as she made her way closer to the couple. _‘This isn’t a Captain with an injured teammate,’_ She thought, brown eyes looking from the blue-haired woman on the floor to the desperate man above her, _‘This is a man about to lose the love of his life…’_ that thought stuck her hard bring up old memories of when she was in a similar position. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she turned her head sideways, “Shizune,” she called, moving to kneel by the injured girl's head. Eyes assessing, _‘Broken arm, stab wound, judging from the blood coming from her mouth... She has some type of internal injuries,’_ she thought, eyes closing as she forced herself to stay where she was. Close enough to oversee but far enough away to stay a healthy distance from the blood. Her eyes opened again at hearing Shizune's footsteps stop, opening her eyes to find her companion kneeled right beside the Uchiha, who looked ready to snap if things didn’t go his way, “Uchiha… Shizune will help her to the best of her abilities… She certainly can’t work with you in the way,”

Itachi’s dark eyes narrowed further, gaze darkening as he stared down Tsunade. She was a renowned medic from their village. Tsunade was hailed as the world’s best medical ninja. “Your assistant isn't touching her… You heal her,” he demanded, voice dark and deep, muscles coiling in his legs and back. He wasn't going to let Kaida suffer. The legendary healer could teach using someone else.

Shisui moved closer, apprehensively watching the sense play out. Itachi looked ready to start a fight. His cousin's calm, cool demeanor was gone, replaced by stress and worry that were now bleeding into anger.

“No… Shizune will heal her just fine,” Tsunade answered, meeting the darkened gaze of the Uchiha in front of her head-on.

“...Tachi…”

Itachi’s dark eyes snapped down at the feeling of Kaida’s small hand against his neck. His hand came up to cover hers, bending down closer to her at her breathless mutter of his name. Pressing his forehead to hers, “Kaida… You shouldn’t be talking,” he breathed against her.

Kaida’s breath hitched, eyes locking with Itachi’s. He was coiled so tight. His emotions pulled tautly. He needed to let the healers work on her and complete their mission. She would be fine without him right next to her. Even though she wanted him right with her. “Mis-”

“I know,” Itachi interrupted her, his hand cupping her cheek as he stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. He and Shisui had to complete their mission. Iroh wouldn’t be in the town for long. But he didn’t want to leave her side, afraid that she would die on him. Breath fanning over her lips, Itachi lent in a bit closer, pressing his lips to hers. Ignoring their audience as he gently moved his lips with hers, “I love you… We’ll be back soon,” he murmured against her lips, pressing another kiss to her forehead, laying her arm back against her, before standing up. Straightening up, Itachi turned his eyes back on Tsunade and Shizune, “Heal her,”

Shisui crossed his arms, glad that neither healer commented on the threat in Itachi’s voice. Shisui was honestly surprised to see his cousin kissing Kaida. _‘What happened while I was gone,’_

“Let’s go,” Itachi said gruffly, stopping in front of his cousin.

“Itachi… I-”

“Two of us need to go… The target won’t be there much longer,” he interrupted, hands weaving through signs to make a shadow clone. Itachi nodded at his clone, who sat down watching the healers work on their blue-haired teammate. “Come on,” Itachi nodded his head slightly moving toward the mouth of the cave, not bothering to look back. Afraid that if he looked back, he wouldn’t be able to leave.

**………**

“I told you everything would work out… Your little Firecracker is too stubborn,” Shisui smiled, throwing a muscled arm around his cousin's broad shoulder. Eyeing Itachi’s blank face from the side. Shisui did miss being taller than his little cousin, _‘ah, at least I’m taller than the tiny little ball of fire,’_ he snickered, sprites higher now that they knew Kaida was going to be fine. “Listen, you should tell her how you feel, again, Itachi. Kaida loves you,” Shisui pushed of his cousin standing straight, “I’m going to go get us some firewood,”

Itachi nodded, dark eyes watching his cousin walk out of the cave to get more firewood. It had taken them a full day to complete their mission. He had been away from her for two days, with only a clone keeping him informed of what was happening. Itachi quickly moved closer to Kaida, who was still sleeping on her bedroll next to the fire. His heart was calming at seeing her; she had color back to her skin. His mind wandered around to what Tsunade had told him. The kunai in her shoulder had been a poisoned kunai. The slow-acting poison would have killed her if they hadn't gotten her a medic because of her other injuries. The older healer had said that with the way the poison worked, they should be thankful her injuries worked out like they did; otherwise, they would have continued the mission and chosen to seek medical aid when they returned to the village. _‘Kaida would have never made it back,’_ he thought, kneeling next to her, brushing blood matted hair from her face. He was angry she was injured, to begin with, but relieved that she would be just fine. Itachi smiled at the soft fluttering of her eyelids as he stroked her cheek.

“Hmm… Itachi,” Kaida spoke softly, light eyes opening to see Itachi kneeled beside her. She sighed, eyes slipping closed at the feel of both his hands cupping her jaw, thumbs brushing over her cheeks as he leaned his forehead against hers. Kaida breathed in deeply, thankful to the healers that had fixed her lung and ribs. It was much easier to breathe now. A small smile tugged at her lips as Itachi's smoky masculine scent filled her lungs. Luling her, with calm and warmth only he could make her feel with just his presence.

“I’m so happy you're okay, Kaida,” he breathed out, opening his eyes. His breath fanning across her lips. Itachi’s dark eyes watched as Kaida's light ones slipped closed the hum coming from her, relaxing him.

Kaida hummed, enjoying the feel of Itachi so close to her. She blinked her eyes back open at the pressure in her chest, releasing. Giving him a small smile, she moved her hand up to cup his neck, fingers playing with his necklace. Kaida’s breath hitched from desire at the intense look she found in Itachi’s eyes as he leaned closer to her, his dark eyes flicking down to her full lips before snapping back up to her eyes.

Itachi shifted to lean over her more comfortably dark eyes holding her. He could see the bands of gray in her steel-blue eyes from this close. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” he breathed, leaning closer to her to press his lips to hers softly—smiling against her as she pressed her lips back against his.

Kaida took a deep breath suppressing her shock at Itachi’s gentle kiss, “How was the mission?” Kaida asked tiredly as Itachi leaned back on his heels, her hand sliding down his chest to lay on his thigh. She wanted to know if their mission was completed. If so, then they would be heading back towards the leaf. It'd also give her time to talk to Itachi. He was kissing her, telling her he loved her. Which was confusing with the way he had been acting a few nights ago.

“It's completed…” he answered, settling on the stone ground beside her, his large hand moving to cover her own. Itachi took a deep breath before continuing. They needed to talk everything out, “Do you remember what happened?”

“Yeah…” Kaida nodded, focusing on the feeling of his large rough hand warped around her much smaller one, “We had a fight about us kissing… I walked off. Which was stupid of me… I got ambushed by some of Danzo’s men,” she sighed wishing that they could talk about where they stood right now and not the major fuck up that was her fight with the men that ambushed her.

Itachi couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face at the huffiness in her voice. Knowing where her mind was at, he tightened his grip on her hand, “Kaida, I just wanted to know if you remembered… We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to talk about us… We have a lot to work out…”

Kaida blinked up at him, not knowing where this conversation was going, but she nodded anyway, “I'm sorry I kissed you like that in the-"

"Kaida shut up," Itachi ordered, interrupting and surprising the girl once again with the commanding tone of his voice.

She turned her eyes back up to him. Itachi was staring down at her, his dark gaze intense. _‘Kami, I love his eyes,’_ she thought, holding his gaze as his fingers started to stroke her wrist.

"I'm the one that needs to apologize. I… didn't make myself clear…" he started trying to find the words he wanted. To tell her how he felt. It was funny he could negotiate well under pressure but sitting here with the woman he was in love with, he couldn't put it into words. “Do you remember what I told you before Tsunade showed up?... After she got here?”

“I remember you crying over me…” Kaida answered, pulling her hand from Itachi’s grip. Pushing blood matted hair from her face, _‘I need to bathe… But that’s going to be hard with one arm,’_ she thought briefly, wondering how she was going to manage to get out of her blood-soaked clothes off and wash with a broken arm and insanely sore ribs.

“Do you remember what we talked about?” Itachi asked softly.

Kaida blinked, thinking. The memory was hazy. She certainly remembered him talking, but she didn’t remember the words, “No… I remember you crying over me, talking, but I can’t remember what you said… It's hazy,” Kaida’s eyebrow drew together slightly at the look on Itachi’s face. _‘He looks disappointed,’_ she thought, wondering what was wrong. Sighing, she pressed her hand against his thigh, hissing at the stinging in her ribs as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. The pain in her ribs flared as she moved. It would be about eight weeks still till her ribs were fully healed, six to eight for her arm.

“Kaida, you're going to hurt yourself… Just lean against me,” Itachi sighed, one hand clasping her right arm, the other going to her back, supporting her before she could fall back on the hard ground.

Taking a deep breath, Kaida held Itachi’s gaze again. She wasn’t sure why he was suddenly so affectionate with her on this mission. He hadn't touched her this much in a while. They were good friends, but he was kissing her, holding her, and it was confusing the hell out of her. They had just had a fight about their feelings, and damn it; she wanted an answer, "Itachi, it’s okay if you don't feel the same way. I'm a big girl… I should have listened... Your courting Izumi-" Kaida sighed, leaning back into Itachi’s chest. Just sitting up was exhausting. There was no way she’d be able to bathe herself.

“Where did you get that?” Itachi asked, dark eyes snapping down to connect with her watery ones. Itachi sighed, scooting closer to Kaida so she could lean against his chest better. Arms wrapping around her, he wondered briefly what Shisui would have to say if he came back right now to see Kaida curled up between his legs leaning against his chest. Though, he found he didn’t mind much. He didn’t want Shisui bothering Kaida, but he wanted people to know he loved her. He wanted her to know he loved her and understand that he wanted to be with her. Reaching out, Itachi sighed when he caught her good wrist fingers sliding up to interlock their fingers together. Feeling some of the pain and tightness uncoil in his chest just from touching her again.

“Shisui said you weren't dating her, but Taro...” she answered, leaning her head back against Itachi’s chest to look him in the eyes.

“Taro is a fucking prick…” Itachi hissed, gently pulling Kaida closer to him. Sighing, Itachi took a deep breath, nose pressed against her dirty hair. Taking Shisui's advice. _‘I just need to tell her everything,’_ he thought, trying to steal his nervousness and the wild breathing of his heart. “I had an arranged marriage set up at my birth, but that girl died in the massacre… With so many of the clan dead and not many females around my age alive… That pretty much left Izumi. My father wasn’t happy about it because she’s only half Uchiha…”

“And you father is so stuck in his ass about the clan… That only full-blooded distant kin will do… That’s-”

“Kaida…” Itachi sighed, cutting off her rant. He certainly had issues with his father, but he still loved the man. Kaida’s anger at his father was intense, seeping from how she had seen Fugaku treat his son. Itachi knew she hated how his father was with him and Sasuke, but he didn’t want to talk about that, “Let me finish, please… It's a tradition for the clan heir to marry another Uchiha to keep the bloodline pure, but as I said, not many around my age survived. The women that did were all married or much too old to be married off to me… The others were babies. That left Izumi. The surviving clan elders, the newly appointed ones, and my father concluded that Izumi was the only choice as my future wife to keep the bloodline, so they have been grooming her to be the new matriarch for the family and forcing us to spend time together,”

“So, you are engaged… Itachi… I’m-”

“Hey, guys got us some more…” Shisui trailed off, taking in Kaida and Itachi’s positions. The way Kaida leaned back against him between his legs. Itachi sitting behind her with his arms around, a calm and content look on his face as they spoke quietly. Shisui smirked to himself, “Am I interrupting something?” he asked, hoping the two had finally gotten together.

“Yes…” Kaida sighed, eyes turning on him, her eyebrow raised at his smirk.

Shisui threw his head back, laughing, "Might want to take it easy there, Firecracker. I'm not sure your-"

"Want me to rebreak that nose?"

“Kaida,” Itachi sighed, leaning his head down against her at her irritable resort, “Shisui, you aren’t interrupting us… Just come work on this fire.” He sighed again, moving to sit in a crouch behind the woman in front of him, “Will you be fine if I stand up… I’m going to get dinner from our packs,”

“I don’t feel like eating Itachi,” Kaida sighed, gazing at the fire, keeping her back straight as she sat up, “I want to take a bath, and I’m going to need help.”

Itachi turned to look at her face blank at the sound of Shisui’s loud laugh. Kaida stared him down, holding his gaze. “Kaida,”

“I can't, Itachi… I need help,” she spoke, holding his gaze ignoring Shisui’s laughing, “Its either you or Shisui,”

Shisui laughed, dark eyes taking in the look on Itachi's face. Feeling like pushing his cousin a bit, he huffed, dropping the wood he carried, “I suppose I could-"

"No," Itachi growled out, glaring at his cousin.

**……**

They walked to the lake in silence, with Kaida resting against Itachi's back. Her breath fanning out against his neck, and she breathed. Itachi's breaths came steadily as he effortlessly carried Kaida's weight and their bags. Her steady heartbeat against his back another reminder that she was okay. That the horror of a few days ago was behind them. Itachi wanted to see the blood off her too, wanted to see the bloodied clothes gone.

“It’s pretty at dusk,” Kaida breathed against his neck, her lips dragging against his skin as she spoke. Her light eyes taking in the way the descending sun cast beautiful rays of light on the water, the sky bathed in different hues adding to the beauty.

“It is,” Itachi agreed, helping Kaida off his back after gently dropping their bags down. Turning to face the petite woman Itachi smiled down at her. His heart swelling, she looked beautiful in the evening sunlight. Itachi sighed, taking a deep breath; he could feel the sting and aches coming from Kaida. “Sit down,” Itachi spoke softly, guiding her back gently to sit on a rock.

“Thanks…” Kaida smiled up at him, light eyes locking with his, her breath hitching at the soft look in his eyes, “Itachi... our talk-”

"Do you think I would kiss you like that… Without feeling the same way? That I would do any of the things, we have done together if I didn’t feel the same way about you?" He asked softly, interrupting her, a flustered edge coming out in his voice as he ran a hand through his hair. They truly did need to finish their talk, "You make me crazy, Kaida… I forgot I was on a mission… I have never lost my focus like that... All I could think about was that I was touching you, kissing you, hearing you moan my name again. Things I've dreamed about, since... You drive me crazy. Do you know how hard it is to deal with your teasing and flirting? How hard it is seeing Taro flirt with you. How much that drives me crazy, makes me angry to see you agree to go out with another man… When I want you… When I want to be the one taking you out on dates, making you smile, laugh, making you happy… Hell, do you have any idea what you do to me?" He asked, shocking the girl as he slid behind her on the rock he had sat her on. Pulling her hair tie from her long braid, Itachi started to unbraid the long strains of blood-matted hair gently. He hated seeing her beautiful light blue locks turned red with blood. Kaida sighed, leaning her head against him, as he worked the braid from her hair. He wouldn’t be able to wash her hair braided like that. Moving off the rock, Itachi quickly moved in front of her forcing Kaida to crane her head back to keep eye contact.

“You’re going to have to take my clothes off for me,” she stated, watching as his throat bobbed at her words. There was no way she’d be able to get her clothes off. The skirt and tank were tight. “Why do you look so uncomfortable? You've seen me completely naked, Itachi,”

“I don’t want to disrespect you, Kaida, I-” Itachi started intending on telling her he loved her. He hadn’t been able to get the words out yet in their conversation.

“Disrespect me?” She laughed, head tilted back. Was this what had caused his sudden attitude change, “Itachi, that's ridiculous… You never would. Sure, you’ve said disrespectful things to me, but I’ve said them too. It happens when people get angry... Have we ever disrespected each other the way you're talking about?”

“No, but Kaida-”

“No… We haven't. We never touch each other if the other one doesn't want to be touched, the things we keep in mind when we are around each other… That’s respect, you… And Shisui, respect me more than any man ever has… Itachi, the only way you could disrespect me was if you did something I didn’t want… You never have. You always check with me, always make sure I’m okay. I’m telling you I need help. Are you going to leave me hanging?” she asked, eyes locking with his dark one again. Once again, she watched his throat bob, but this time the tension in his jaw relaxed.

“Doesn't it bother you what people say about us?” Itachi asked, stepping closer to her.

“No… Because I know who you are, Itachi… It’d be great if I knew where we stood,” she stated thoughtfully, hand sliding under his chin as he leaned down closer to her. Kaida ignored the sensation of having his large warm hands on her hips again. “I’m serious, Itachi,” she said, trying to keep her voice level at the feel of his hands gently grazing her sides as he slowly pulled her tank top up her stomach.

“Lean forward with your arm out...” he asked, his deep voice lowering with desire. Itachi chastised himself for the feelings coiling inside him. Kaida was injured and tired. They still needed to talk. Taking a few deep breaths, Itachi calmed himself, focusing his mind. “I’m not engaged to Izumi… They left that choice up to me,” he spoke softly, pulling the tank from her body, helping her straighten back up. Itachi gently started undoing the bandages on her stomach and chest. Stopping for a moment at the hiss of pain she let out, only continuing when she nodded for him too. Making sure to keep his eyes focusing on her collarbone as he revealed her breast.

Kaida sighed, eyes rolling up to the sky. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with that information. Eyes landing back on him, she tracked the tightness of the muscle in his forearm the way his eyes were level with her collarbone, “You know you can look… Not like you haven't seen any of it before,” Kaida commented, arm wrapping around Itachi’s shoulders as he helped her stand. Breath catching at the sting in her side and the feel of his hot hands against her bareback and stomach. Itachi breathed in deep, helping to steady her on her heeled feet from when she was up on the tip of her toes to keep her arm around him.

“Are you okay?” Itachi worried, his eyes ranked down her body at the small gasp she made. Itachi swallowed hard at the image of the woman in front of him. Eyes catching on every small bruise he had left on her skin days ago. The small bruises were in various states of healing. Itachi took a deep breath. Even injured and covered in blood, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and looking at her half-dressed in front of him was not helping his self-control.

“Yeah... You just shocked me, that’s all,” She laughed, grinning up at Itachi, glad that he didn’t move his hands. It had been so long since she had gotten to feel his hands on her like this. “You’re going to have to take your clothes off too,” she commented, tapping his chest once, “Probably be easier if you do it now. Then finish helping me,”

 _‘She's going to drive me completely crazy one day,’_ Itachi thought, taking a deep breath making sure Kaida was steady on her feet before taking a step back to disrobe. Quickly pulling his gear and clothes from his body, letting them lay next to their bags. Itachi couldn’t help the smirk that stressed across his face as he bent over to straighten the clothes on the ground. He hadn’t missed the heated look Kaida gave him while he took his clothes off. Pride swelled in his chest at knowing she still wanted him as much as he wanted her. She couldn't keep her eyes off him either. Moving back to Kaida, he settled his hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Take it off, Sweetie,” Kaida grinned, loving the blush that rose to Itachi’s cheeks. She had thoroughly enjoyed watching him take his clothes off. _‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that much of his body,’_ she thought, taking a deep breath to cool the rising heat. They still needed to finish their talk. Kaida's mind raced through their discussion in the cave up till now, “You mean they think if they force you to spend enough time with Izumi. You’ll give in and agree to marry her,”

“Yes… But there's a problem with their plans,” Itachi answered, stealing his nerves to say what he needed to. It was one thing to say _‘I love you,’_ while she might be dying, but he wasn’t sure if he could get it out now. _‘Kami, help me tell her,’_

“What's that?” Kaida asked, eyes slipping closed at the feeling of his long, calloused fingers stroking down her hips and thighs as he pulled her skirt, undershorts, and panties from her body. Sitting back on his heels, Itachi pulled her high-heeled boots from her toned legs, enjoying the feel of her soft skin beneath his calloused hand.

“You,” Itachi answered softly, standing back up to his full height, smirking at the difference in their height now. It was easy to forget just how small Kaida was when she wore heels all the time, but his little firecracker only came up to about his collar bone without shoes. Itachi’s dark eyes seared as he hunched his shoulders, tilting his head closer to hers. Turning his head slightly, Itachi brought his hands up to her shoulders, leaning down further to place a kiss on her temple.

“Really… Me?” She asked thin brow arched as Itachi gently lifted her broken arm. The splint needed to stay on, so they were going to have to keep her arm out of the water, “You don't act as if you love me… You've been-”

Itachi rolled his eyes, bending over. He gently moved her broken arm up around his shoulder. He sighed, wishing for once there wasn’t such a difference in their height. If she just walked into the water, she wouldn’t be able to go deep enough to wash well. “Kaida, this isn’t going to work unless I pick up... You’re too short just to rest your arm on my shoulder,”

Kaida wanted to laugh at the look on Itachi's face despite their earnest conversation, “So do it,” she shrugged, her other hand moving to grip his shoulder. He was the only man she wanted touching her like this, the only man she trusted this much to be so close to.

Itachi nodded, hands sliding to her thighs, gripping the back of her thighs firmly. Itachi lifted her. Sucking in a breath as she wrapped bare, warm, toned legs around his waist. Legs, he had been dreaming of for months. Itachi had to suppress a moan at having Kaida completely naked warped around him. Using every trick he knew to keep his body under control, “Comfortable?” he asked, letting her adjust her arm so they could make sure the splint didn’t get wet. At her nod, Itachi moved into the lake, glad for the warm water the lake provided. He had read about this area the lake was heated by underground lava, which kept the lake water warm all year round. Moving till he was chest-deep in the water, Itachi stopped, holding Kaida tightly against him. Supporting her with an arm under her but and one hand at the middle of her back. Itachi gulped down a breath at having her tight, wet body pressed so tightly up against his. The heat pooling in his veins was getting harder to ignore. He could swear he was on fire. Itachi sucked in a sharp breath as Kaida leaned further against him, letting out a small moan as he slid his hand up her back, washing off her upper back and shoulders. Itachi bit the inside of his cheek, feeling his control start to crumble.

“Itachi?-” Kaida started wiggling against him only to be interrupted as his hand slid to the nape of her neck, pulling her further into him so that he could seal his lips to hers. Kaida moaned, right hand sliding into Itachi free black locks, as she opened her mouth.

He was pouring his feelings for her into the kiss, thinking of all the things she made him feel. Itachi smiled into the kiss when Kaida moaned against him, wrapping her good arm up around his neck along with her broken one. Her right hand sliding into his hair, kissing him back with just as much passion. Itachi pulled away when Kaida hissed against his lips. Itachi sighed, ignoring the stinging phantom pain he felt hand cupping her cheek; they both took a minute to catch their breath. “Are you okay?” She was right. He hadn’t been acting as if he loved her, at least not in her eyes. Her opinion was all that mattered.

“Yeah… My ribs are just really sore… Not that I mind kissing you like that, but I would like to finish our talk,”

Itachi sighed, “Let's get you cleaned up… We’ll talk when you can sit and rest,”

“That’d probably be best. This isn't exactly comfortable right now,” Kaida laughed, eyes slipping closed.

“Kaida, please don't joke about your injuries…”

Kaida opened her eyes at the deep notes of irritation in Itachi’s voice. His dark eyes intense as he stared at her. “I’m sorry… Are you okay, Itachi?”

“No… I watched you almost die, Kaida… I was covered in your blood…” Itachi's deep voice came gravely with his irritation and lingering worry. “Don’t joke about… I don’t know what I would do if you died-”

“Itachi,” Kaida interrupted softly, her small hand stroking his jaw, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry I worried you that much. I won’t joke about it, okay.” she nodded, her heart hurting. She hated being the reason Itachi was ever upset. It always bothered her greatly.

“You got ambushed-”

“I messed up in the fight,” she admitted, interrupting Itachi once more. Irritation feeling her at the memory of her fight. _‘I missed them till it was almost too late,’_

“Hmm, do you want to talk about it?” Itachi asked softly, willing to put off their talk if she wanted to talk about what had happened.

“I’d rather we work us out… Then talk the ambush out with Shisui,”

Itachi gave a small nod, “Do you think you can hold onto me while I wash your hair? The water is too deep for you to stand up in. The water would be up to your chin,” Itachi laughed lightly as Kiada smacked his chest at his comment at her height.

“Yeah, I can do that. Just make it quick,” Kaida nodded, watching Itachi reach out to the rock the bottle of oil they used to clean their hair on missions was sitting on alone with the body wash.

Itachi started to work the oil they used to clean their hair on missions into her locks. Trying to ignore the fact that Kaida was clinging to him so tightly that he didn’t have to support her for right now. Itachi quickened his pace as he went about cleaning her hair and body. Her ribs were starting to act more, and while she was just using her right arm, she wouldn’t be able to hold herself up for long. After rinsing her hair free of the oil, Itachi slid an arm back under her to support her. Kaida sighed at the relief of tension being taken off her body as Itachi moved them back to the shore.

Kaida let out a soft groan as Itachi sat her back on the rock near their things, taking the small towel he had started to dry her off. Hissing as he patted over her ribs, “Damn, I didn’t think it would hurt so bad,”

“If you hadn’t broken so many, it probably wouldn’t,” Itachi commented, drying himself off before pulling on a clean pair of underwear and pants, then his shoes. Digging through Kaida’s back, he pulled out a pair of underwear and pants that were in the bag, folding her blooded close-up, sliding them to the bottom of her bag.

Kaida snorted light eyes, watching Itachi as he moved back to her with some clothing for bandages in hand. Her eyes were running up and down his broad, muscular chest. Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, Kaida’s eyes tracked the way his muscles moved as he kneeled in front of her, gently sliding her underwear and pants halfway up her legs before sliding her shoes on.

“Let me know if I hurt,” Itachi’s breath fanned over the skin of her abdomen as he started wrapping the bandage around her. He was paying attention to her breathing. Trusting whatever this connection was between them to let him know if he hurt her while rewrapping the bandages. Knowing despite his asking, she wouldn’t say anything.

“Are you going to help me stand up?” she asked after Itachi finished wrapping her stomach and chest. Her soft voice coming out with a smokier tone to it as she watched him, “I’m a little tired,”

Itachi smirked up at her as he stood gently wrapping his arms around her as he gently pulled her to her feet, “Keep your hand on my shoulder,” Itachi told her softly as he bent down, pulling her pants and underwear up her toned legs letting his hands brush her skin as he did. Thinking about the fact she didn't remember what he said, Itachi took a deep breath, thinking over what to say to Kaida. Wanting her to know and understand how much he loved her.

“What’s gotten into you, Itachi?” Kaida asked, voice coming out as a whisper as he stood back up, locking his dark eyes with her. This close, she could make out the difference in his eye color and his pupils. _‘His eyes are blown… I haven’t seen him like this-’_ Kaida cut off her train of thought, not wanting to go down that line of thinking just yet.

Itachi slid his hand down to her knees, sitting back on his heels, “You don’t remember what I said to you… After you woke back up?” he asked again, not able to say the word revived.

“No,”

Itachi nodded thumb rubbing circles into the sides of her knees. He certainly didn’t mind repeating himself. If that’s what she wanted, he would say what he felt for her every day for the rest of his life, “I want you… I love you… Kaida, you fill up my thoughts in the best and worst ways. The way you smile, how those beautiful eyes glint when you are teasing me, or when you are happy or sad. I love seeing you smile; it’s the best part of my day… You take my breath away, and it doesn’t matter how you’re dressed. Whether you’re drenched in sweat after a spar or dressed up for one of the festivals. I think you are beautiful all the time. I love the way your eyes are always shining either in delight or anger… You're the most gorgeous, enrapturing, enamoring woman I’ve ever met. You drive me crazy with your ill-temperedness. Your insubordinate, impulsiveness… I admire your loyalty… I think you are brilliant and talented…. I love everything about you. I love how overwhelmingly adorable when you are mad-”

"Really, Sweetie?" Kaida cut in a soft voice full of hope, cutting off Itachi's rambling. Kaida smiled softly down at him, kneeling between her thighs, his large warm hand encircling her waist. Kaida could feel the warmth of his hands through the bandages. She slid her hand to cup his jaw leaning towards him, “You mean that, don’t you?” She loved it when he was this open with his emotions. Her light eyes were shining, watching the way a smile lit his face. Kaida let out a surprised yelp when Itachi leaned forward, kissing her again. This time nipping her bottom lip as he sealed their lips together, gently this time.

Itachi grinned against her pressing another soft kiss to her lips before pulling away, “I understand why you might not believe me, Kaida,” Itachi spoke, voice deepening with emotion as he placed light kisses along her jaw, hands stroking her bandaged sides gently, “Please, I’m telling you the truth. I know you can feel it… I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you,” Itachi finished, thumb brushing over her swollen lips. He understood why she might have her doubts, but he would prove to her every day that he loved her.

“Itachi,” Kaida’s voice came out as a whisper as she brushed bangs from his face. Sighing, she thought over what to say to him, how to explain her doubts to him, “Yeah, you haven’t acted like you're in love... But I know you, I know what you feel, I know it’s hard for you sometimes… It’s not you that I doubt,” she sighed voice coming out softer as she leaned her head against Itachi’s. Taking a deep breath as her ribs protested at her position.

Itachi nodded, standing up so Kaida would straighten out her back, moving back to his pack to pull out a shirt for himself and one for Kaida. Mind putting together what she meant quickly, “You don’t think I could love you because of the things your father has said, and some other people,”

Kaida watched quietly as Itachi slipped his shirt on, eyes catching on the Uchiha crest through his long dark locks. Wondering breathily what that symbol would look like on her back or if he would even want it there. Itachi had given so many reasons he was in love with her, but she still had a hard time. _‘I feel like I’m not good enough for him… All the work I did to be proud of myself; people still don’t see it. I love him, and he loves me. Is that enough?’_ she wondered. Not sure if his family would even let him be with her love or not.

Itachi sighed as she nodded instead of answering, moving to kneel in front of her again, laying his extra shirt on her knee. Itachi slid both his hand up her thighs, hand gripping her hip gently, while his other hand cradled her jaw, thumb stroking her cheek. Kaida was so strong that people often forget that their words did affect her. She was good at hiding it. Hell, she had hidden this insecurity from him for years, “Kaida… I love you for exactly who you are, everything about you… How do you love me?”

“I already told you,” she breathed against his wrist, her eyes closed at the feeling of his calloused thumb stroking her.

“So, tell me again,” Itachi asked softly.

Opening her eyes, Kaida gazed down into Itachi’s intense dark eyes, “I know everything about you, Itachi… I know your favorite food isn’t actually dango. It's rice balls with konbu and cabbage. There isn’t anything I don’t love about you. Even the things that drive me crazy. Like how you’re insistent on hiding your every emotion... That drives me crazy, you're fastidious, and it drives me up a wall, but I love about you… I love how kind you are. I think it's adorable how shy you are, even though other people think you're just an asshole. I know that is why you don't talk much, not because you think you're better than anyone. You want to make this world a better place… Your heart is so big... You would do anything for your little brother, for your family, for our village… I love how patient and passionate you are, how much you keep me guessing. Your dry sense of humor is a godsend on a bad day, and you can always make me laugh. I love our long talks when we talk about the different books you have read. God, Itachi, I know so much about you, even the things that drive me crazy. Hell, I even love how insanely protective you are. I just love you...,” Kaida spoke softly, her hand gently stroking his neck, “Your always there for me, no matter what. I know if I'm having a bad day, I can come to you, and you make my day better. I want to spend my life with you-”

Itachi sat upon his knees, pressing his lips to Kaida’s, interrupting her. His hands cradled her face gently as Itachi pushed into her, running his tongue against her as they kissed. Kaida moaned, opening her mouth as Itachi slipped his tongue in, hand sliding down her body as she tangled her hand tightly in his hair, earring a soft moan from the man kissing her breathless.

"Itachi," she moaned breathlessly as Itachi sucked new bruising kisses down her neck. Itachi grinned against her loving the sounds he was pulling from her mouth, the sound of his name on her lips, setting his blood on fire.

“Kaida,” Itachi muttered, half moaning against the skin of her neck, trying to get himself back under control, and her soft little moans weren’t helping. Breathing deeply against her, he gathered his thoughts, feeling the rise and fall of her chest and steady heartbeat beneath his hand. “You light up my day… You have since we met. I want to spend all my time with you,” he spoke, dark eyes holding her gaze, “I love you, more than I know how to tell you, Kaida… I love you. It seems so small compared to what I feel,”

“So, are we exclusive, or can I go on dates?" She teased as Itachi sat back on his heels, hands going to her knees. Kaida laughed at the look on his face as he raised an eyebrow at her. The joy at knowing he loved her just as much as she loved him, making her a little giddy.

Itachi couldn’t help the smirk that stretched over his face as her joy mixed with his. His heart felt lighter than it ever had. Checking the bandages he had wrapped around her waist and chest, Itachi whispered, voice deep, “I don’t share… I might just kill Taro if he touches you again… I hate when we go on a mission that you have to flirt with the target to lure them out. I hate seeing you flirt with other men,”

Kaida hummed at his soft admission hand playing with his bangs, “I know… I don’t like it either… Why do you think I drag them out before it goes beyond talking?” Kaida asked, raising an eyebrow at Itachi. She grinned, glancing down to his neck, which had small bruises on it from their kisses in the alleyway, standing out against his pale skin. He hadn't even tried to cover them up, “I don’t like them touching me… I know you don’t like it,”

“No, I don’t,” he answered truthfully, giving her a wide smile. “I’m possessive. I don’t like people touching what's mine,”

“Yours?” Kaida raised her eyebrow at Itachi’s possessiveness, “I’m not an object, Itachi,”

“No… You are your own person. I love you... Kaida, I want to wake up to you every day, have you by my side forever. Life is hard, and you’re the person I want to go through the good and bad times with. When I imagine having kids, you're the only woman I see as their mother, the only woman I would want to have children with. I want everything with you, Kiada. I want to be yours and for you to be mine,” Itachi spoke, the emotion in his voice and eyes holding Kaida’s attention. She could feel his love and resolve. Itachi sighed, pulling the shirt from her knee, slicing half of the fabric with a kunai. They needed to get back to the cave before Shisui came looking for them.

“So, what does that make me exactly? Your girlfriend?” she asked, light eyes looking at the shirt he was cutting. “What are you doing to your shirt?”

“You need a new sling while that one dries after I clean it, and this way, my shirt won’t look like a short dress on you,”

“Itachi, that shirt has your family crest on it… I can’t wear it... That-”

“I don't want you to be my girlfriend....” Itachi interrupted, gently untying the soiled fabric sling. Itachi checked her arm, making sure the splint was still in place. He stopped in his movements at the curious look Kaida was giving him.

 _‘Is he seriously asking me what I think he is?’_ she thought, light eyes flicking down to the shirt he held up. Itachi smiled at her, helping her slide his shirt on, before tying the makeshift sling in place to hold her arm to her chest. Kaida took a deep breath holding his eyes, “What do you want then?”

“I want you to be my wife,” He said honestly. Having thought over what he wanted the days they were away, completing the mission was torture for him even though he had left a clone to watch over her. He had decided then that he wanted her to be his wife. There was nothing he wanted more. Itachi’s eyes slowly dragged down over her shoulder to her hip taking in the image of her in his shirt. His shirt was still long enough to hang down to her hips, though it did slip off her shoulder, sliding down against the sling. Itachi’s eyes catch on her exposed flesh, counting the small bruises left by his mouth. He secretly loves seeing her in his clothes, wearing his clan’s symbol on her back. Itachi gave her a soft smile, thumb stroking over her bottom lip, dark eyes connecting back with her watery ones.

“Aren’t you romantic,” Kaida grinned, patting Itachi’s cheek.

Itachi snorted, standing them both up now that they were fully dressed, arms wrapping around Kaida as she curled into his chest, laying her head on his chest. Itachi hummed, pressing, hunching slightly to press his lips to the top of her head, “What’s your answer?”

Kaida gave Itachi a wicked grin as he pulled her closer, raising an eyebrow at Itachi at the feeling of a hard length poking her stomach. Heat rising to her cheek, coloring them slightly, Kaida laughed at the deep dusting of pink on Itachi’s cheeks as he stared down at her. “Well, my dear future husband, would you like some help with your problem?” she asked, hand brushing against over his broad chest up to cup his neck.

"I would appreciate that future wife," Itachi smirked, leaning down lips dragging across her ear, his deep voice dropping. Itachi pressed a kiss under her ear, leaning his forehead against hers, "I don’t want you to hurt your ribs." He said, voice husky as he smiled down at her.

“I love your smile,” she grinned, hand gently stroking his well-defined jaw. Her heart was warm and light, standing here in Itachi’s arms. She felt giddy seeing him so happy and free with his emotion, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his mouth.

Itachi smiled, pressing his lips against hers, "I love you,"

**…….,**

Itachi shot up in his bedroll. His breath was coming out in pants as he sat upright, the blanket pooling at his hips. Dark eyes roaming around the cave, bleeding red in a breath, quickly checking the traps and genjutsu he placed protecting them while sleeping. Everything was fine. Itachi’s red eyes shot down next to him at the sound of Kaida’s soft moaning. She was lying on her back legs, moving under her light blanket as she dreamed. Her nightmare makes her restless in her sleep. Reaching out, Itachi softly stroked her cheek, calling her name lowly.

Kaida blinked, awakened eyes fluttering open blinking the water from her eyes, “Itachi,”

Itachi brushed long fingers over her soft cheeks at her whisper. Itachi Wiping the tears from her eyes without comment.

"Itachi," she whispered again, reaching up her small hand cupping his cheek. Itachi gave her a small smile leaning into her hand. Kissing her palm as she wiped his tears. "What-"

"I just had a nighttime," he answered, interrupting her softly as he pulled the blankets from her petite body, wrapping her in his arms, keeping her from putting too much strain on her ribs as she tried to sit up. Itachi sighed, pulling Kaida into his lap, helping her slide her legs around him, being careful with her arm. Wrapping his arms gently around her, he bent his head down, pressing his lips to her hair. “You did, didn't you?” he asked gently as she settled into him. Her legs folded on either side of his broken arm between them, her other arm wrapped around his neck, fingers playing with the hair at his nape. Itachi hummed at the feeling of her fingers sliding against his scalp.

“Yeah… I saw us again… You?” she asked, soft resting her head against him, sighing at the feel of his long finger funning through her free locks. Kaida wiggled, tightening her arm around Itachi’s neck to help adjust herself, pulling her body closer to his.

“Kaida,”

“Yes?” she asked at the soft warning tone in his voice.

“Stop moving like that…” Itachi spoke, lips pressed against her temple, hiding his smile at her soft laughter. He loved seeing her smile, hearing her laugh. Her laugh was something that always lifted his heart.

“I’m cold, Itachi,” Kaida sighed, wiggling closer to her now fiancés warm muscular body, “I don’t feel like using my chakra to keep warm… Not when I can just use you. Really, it’s not fair you are always so warm,”

“Oh, am I supposed to be your personal heater?” he asked, grabbing her blanket, stretching it out over his as he laid them both back. Kaida sighed, snuggling into his chest. “Are you okay like this?”

“Yeah,” She muttered, earning a soft laugh out of the man beneath her, rubbing her cheek against him, listing to the sound of his heart beating in her ear. “Do you want to talk about your nightmare? It made you cry,”

“Not right now,” Itachi murmured, tilting his head toward her to kiss her, “We should try to go back to sleep. It’ll be a long trip back. We can’t travel as we did here with your injuries,” he finished laying his head back down on the mat with a yawn.

“I cou-”

“No…” Itachi interrupted softly, “We aren’t taking the chance of you getting hurt,”

“You wouldn’t be this protective if it was Shisui or one of our other teammates,” Kaida sighed, drumming her fingers against him under his collar bone.

“No, I wouldn’t be,” Itachi admitted, hand gently rubbing up and down her back, “I love you, Kiada. I want you to be my wife-”

“I know… I want that too,” She confirmed, pressing a kiss to his clothed chest, “People are going to talk about it, though… They’re either going to think we are moving too fast or we-”

“Go to sleep, you two…” Shisui groaned, rolling over to glare at Kaida and Itachi. Raising an eyebrow at the position, he found them in choosing not to commit on how they looked with Kaida curled up on Itachi's chest. Shisui snorted; he had given them enough hell for how long it took them to get back from the lake. Especially with the way they came back. He had been able to tell immediately something had changed in their relationship, “I’m thrilled that you two are together, really I am. Even happier, you’re getting married. You’ve practically been dating for years. So, if anyone says anything tells them to fuck off... Now let me sleep,”


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since an update. I just started a new job, and that takes up a lot of time. I'm going to finish this story, though. I'm going to try and update monthly.

“Do you want to talk about the dreams you’ve been having the past few nights, Kaida?” Itachi asked, glancing back from the fire he was tending to Kaida. She had his blanket wrapped around her to keep her warm in the chilly morning air. It eased his worry to see her sitting up easier this morning.  _ 'Still, though, she isn't close to being healed…,' _ he thought, thinking over the setbacks her injuries would cause in their traveling. Even if she insisted she could handle traveling at the pace they usually did, Itachi knew it could be dangerous for her with how badly her ribs were broken. They couldn't take a chance at causing the healing bones to move.  _ 'I'll have to watch for attacks too,' _ he thought, worried that whoever was behind this whole mess that had him being investigated and Kaida attacked would try their hand again.  _ 'I can't let her fight. One wrong move, and she could die,' _ he thought, face pulling into a frown as he moved back to her side, sliding to sit behind Kaida, drawing her back against his chest. 

“If you keep frowning like that, you’re going to get wrinkles,” Kaida joked lightly, tilting her head back against Itachi’s chest to look up at him.

Itachi smiled down at her reaching up to brush strands of hair from her face, “Oh really?” Itachi asked, dropping his head down lower, lips brushing Kaida’s bruised cheek.

Kaida hummed, “You already look older than you are…” she teased, biting her lip.

“Do I?” Itachi asked, deep voice husky as he leaned closer.

“Hey, you looked like you were almost eighteen when we were thirteen,” Kaida pointed out. “It was funny how-” Kaida laughed as Itachi hummed, leaning closer, pressing his lip to hers moving his lips against her, gently cutting off her sentence, making her sigh against him. 

“I’m sorry I interrupted you,” Itachi spoke softly, pulling back, leaving just a breath between them, “What were you saying?”

“Hmm?” Kaida smiled, leaning up to kiss Itachi again, “I was saying it was funny how girls quite a few years older than us hit on you so much, then they were so embarrassed when Shisui and I told them your age,” Kaida laughed, “Did you think that little kiss was going to distract me, from teasing you, Sweetie?”

“That was only funny for you,” Itachi shook his head, straightening up pulling Kaida back against his chest. 

Kaida snorted, “Oh, Shisui got a kick out of it too… Speaking of… How long is Shisui going to be gone getting more firewood?”

“He’ll be back soon,” Itachi sighed, “Are you going to answer my question?”

Kaida sighed, resting back against Itachi, “They aren’t that bad on the nights you hold me… I’ve told you that. You always make them better,” It had been three days since Tsunade had been with them. Itachi had insisted they all rest for a few days before heading back, and she did feel better. He and Shisui had gone back to taking turns keeping watch after the first night, not wanting to waste chakra on clones to do it. Last night while Itachi was taking his turn keeping watch, she had another nightmare. Itachi had woken her up, though, before the nightmare had gotten bad.

“I’m sorry,” Itachi started, dark eyes holding Kaida’s, “I could have made a cl-”

“Itachi don’t…” Kaida sighed, lifting her hand sliding her hand against his neck, “I’m a big girl, Itachi. You have to do your job. We all do. I’m injured right now. I can’t fight with my injuries, and it would be dangerous. If my ribs move, that could kill me, so I shouldn’t take an active role in the mission right now. I can handle my dreams. You need to focus on the mission,”

“Still, your dreams have been bothering you for years… So, much that you’ve lost sleep… Was the dream different this time? I know they have been getting worse before we left on this mission...” Itachi cut off, thinking back to when he had found her in his office having a nightmare. If he could go back and do that night differently, he would, “That was the worst one. You’ve never been so upset before,”

Kaida nodded, “Yeah, it was terrible… My dreams haven’t really changed in the past few weeks. They’ve just been getting more detailed… We always talk about my dreams,” Kaida sighed, thumb stroking his neck, “Are we going to talk about your dreams? You woke me up-”

“I… I had a lot of nightmares, but that one Kaida,” Itachi sighed, pressing his nose against the top of her head, “I… My dreams are mostly about our work… but that one… It was horrifying… I-" Itachi cut off, gathering his thoughts. That dream had shaken him.

"What happened? Was it about the massacre?" Kaida asked, softly leaning her head back to look Itachi in the eyes.

"No, it was about you… It…" Itachi sighed, breathing in deeply, inhaling her scent. He couldn't understand what happened in his dream. All this time, he'd had never honestly believed Kaida about her dreams just thought they were her minds way of dealing with the stress in their lives, but he believed her now, "I'm sorry, Kaida,"

"Itachi…"

"All these years, you've talked to me about your dreams. I've never fully believed you about them, but the dream I had... It was the same one you had in my office, just… different slightly," he interrupted, wanting to apologize for not fully believing her for all these years.

"From a different perspective… You don’t need to apologize… Itachi, you always helped me look into my dreams. Itachi, you have always listened to me… It’s hard to believe, I think they are from a past life, but we’ve spent years looking into it. It’s not like we can prove it,"

"Yeah," Itachi agreed, thumb stroking her knee, "But it's my perspective, not yours… I… Why are we,"

"Having dreams of our past lives, I don't know… But I know that we loved each other then too,"

Itachi hummed against her pressing his lips to her temple as he thought over her words. Every time she has spoken about her dreams and mentioned him, he knew that she believed they had known each other for a long time. If he were honest, he would admit he did too, because how else could he explain this draw to her he had. From day one, he just couldn't stay away. She lit up his life—those facts. The ones about them were the only ones he never had trouble believing could be true. Because he's loved her since they were kids, it's just kept changing over the years to what they have now, "I would love you in any life,"

"And people think you have a hard time impressing girls," Kaida snarked, holding Itachi's stare. She grinned when the man smirked at her, "besides, I've heard it before, Sweetie,"

Itachi laughed, pressing his lips gently back to Kaida's, kissing her slowly, enjoying the feel of her soft full lips against his. He sighed into the kiss at her gentle strokes against his neck, darting his tongue against her lower lip's asking for permission to deepen the kiss. Itachi grinned into the kiss as Kaida deepened their kiss, smirk pulling wider as he pulled a moan from her. Pulling back, he grinned at her thumb, stroking her swollen lips.

"What are we going to do for breakfast?, she asked breathless, pressing a kiss the tad of Itachi's thumb, "There aren't enough rice balls left for all of us," 

“I’ll go pick some berries for you and catch some breakfast for Shisui and me while Shisui finishes gathering the firewood…” Itachi spoke, lips dragging along her temple. Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to her temple. Frowning at the temperature of her skin, “Your fever is back, Kaida. You need to lay down and rest,” 

Kaida sighed at Itachi’s soft tone. The worry in his voice was evident, “Fine…” 

Itachi grinned at the pout that took over her face,  _ ‘God, she beautiful,’ _ he thought, moving to help her lay back on the mat, making sure to pull his cloak under her head. Tucking the blanket back around her shivering form. “We need to keep it from getting too high, so please just lay here and rest?” Itachi asked, moving around the cave to grab a rag to dip into the water he had gotten this morning, laying the cool rag over her forehead.

“You worry too much, Itachi,” she sighed, eyes slipping closed as Itachi laid the rag over her forehead. 

“I love you, Kaida… You scared me,” Itachi said, stroking her cheek softly.

“I’m fine, Itachi," she reassured him, softy, "you worry too much,"

Itachi smiled at her soft voice leaning down to kiss her, “Your fever is back. Just humor me,” he asked softly, thumb stroking cheek softly. 

“Yes, Sweetie,” she sighed, covering his hand with hers. 

Itachi smiled at her, “I’ll be back soon,” Itachi muttered, leaning down to press a kiss to kaida’s lip, sighing against her as he deepened the kiss before pulling back. Standing up, Itachi stood up, walking to the interface of the cave. Itachi looked back at Kaida resting beside the fire under the blanket with a wet rag on her head. Itachi shook his head at the waving jester he received. Itachi’s head snapped at the slight noise coming from the forest. Dark eyes bleeding red, he scanned the area around them, red eyes finding his cousin. “Shisui,”

“I’m going to get us some breakfast… Will you get the fire going better?” Itachi asked, letting his eyes slip back to their normal dark color. Turning off his Sharingan, dark eyes holding his cousin as Shisui walked closer to him.

“Yeah, I can… What’s Kaida going to eat?”

“We should have some rice balls left. I’ll see if I can find some berries for her, ” 

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on her for you,"

Itachi nodded to his cousin, "Her fever is back. Please make sure she's resting. I'll be back within the hour,"

"Yeah, no problem," Shisui nodded, dipping his head. Shisui sighed, dark eyes looking up. It would be a few hours till the sun was starting to show over the mountains.  _ ‘I’ll be glad to get back… Have a short break and sleep it,’ _ he sighed inwardly, readjusting the wood he held as he entered the cave. “Firecracker, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” He exclaimed, nearly dropping the wood at catching the blue-haired girl not resting like Itachi had said he had left her. Instead, she was sitting up, unwrapping her badly broken arm.

“My arm is itching,” she growled out, tying the fabric that made her sling. Taking care to hold her arm to her chest as she started taking off the splint.

“Are you crazy-” Shisui started stopping, “You know what, never mind,” he sighed, moving to add some more wood to the fire, “Careful or you are going to hurt your arm,”

"It itches," she repeated, irritated.

"So your genius self thinks that's a good idea?" Shisui asked, inclining his head to her unwrapped arm.

Kaida looked up, shooting the older man a seething look, "I know what I'm doing,"

Shisui shook his head at Kaida’s complaints,  _ ‘Most people would be complaining about the amount of pain they were in,’ _ he laughed inwardly at her antics. The girl was tuff something he always gave her credit for. She never complained about things other female ninja did. She just did her job. Sure she could be difficult as hell to work with, but she was good, “Just lie down, Kaida, Itachi’s going to kill me if I let you get hurt,” he sighed, hands brushing her bare shoulder, “Good god, you are burning up girl… you seriously need to lie down and let us get that fever down,” 

“Itachi’s not going to kill you. He knows how I am,” she sighed, lying back on Itachi’s mat with Shisui help, careful to keep her arm tucked to her chest.

“That’s true he does but think about how worried he’ll be, Kaida, if he comes back and your fever is worse and so is your arm… I mean, you couldn’t even fight off a few people without getting hurt. I can’t take you anywhere,” he joked, eyes crinkling, not noticing Kaida's narrowed eyes. 

_ Crack _

_ The _ sound of bone-crunching under Kaida's small fist sounded loud in the cave as Shisui's head snapped back from her punch.

"Shit, Kaida, that was my nose," 

“I missed,” Kaida's laugh, patting the man crouched over her in pain on the side of his head. Her giggles quickly turning to gasps for air, making Shisui sit up straight looking over her worldly, "Fu… Fucking… hurts to laugh,"

“No shit… Fucking hell-” Shisui bit out, holding the rag he had quickly grabbed to this nose.

“Some elite ninja you are couldn’t even dodge a punch from a such a useless-,”

“I get it, Kaida!” Shisui hissed, holding a rag up to his nose to stem the bleeding, his dark eyes holding his friend’s light blue ones before signing. 

Kaida sighed, light eyes rolling, “I’m sorry I broke your nose-”

"Again-”

Kaida blinked up at him, wide light eyes narrowing in confusion, "What?"

"Again… You broke my nose again… Your moody little ass hit me a few days-"

Kaida eyes widened, remembering when she had decked him for trying to treat her while asking her questions. She had been so worked up and worried about Itachi that she hadn't even thought when he had touched her, just reacted. "Yeah… sorry Shi,"

Shisui sighed, lying a new cold rag over her forehead, "I'm sorry for what I implied… That joke wasn't funny. You are awesome, Firecracker… You took care of those guys mostly by yourself," Shishi said, patting her on the shoulder, "Now will you just rest, let me rewrap your arm… Itachi's going to give us both that disapproving look of his if he comes back and you aren't resting."

“Yeah… Yeah… Itachi doesn’t scare me,” Kaida drawled tiredly, waving her hand.

Shisui laughed, watching her yawn as he put her splint back on, tying the sling back around her neck, careful not to snag her hair with her laying down. “Maybe, but you have a fever, and you do need to rest… Itachi isn’t above knocking your ass out to make that happen,” Shisui pointed out, softly pulling blue hair away from her face. Itachi worried about Kaida so much. The man fad barely focused on their mission with how worried he had been. These past two days, Itachi had been entirely focused on their female teammate. “Just rest… I’ll be right outside,”

“M’fine,”

**……………....**

“Rebreak your nose?” Itachi asked, dark eyes taking in the rag at his cousin’s feet. Shisui sat on a rock, leaning back against the cave carving wood with a kunai. "How is Kaida?" Itachi asked. He had felt her pain change to the point of having trouble breathing for a few minutes. The only thing that had stopped him from rushing back was knowing that it had stopped and that Shisui was with her. Someone he trusted wholeheartedly.

“Your wife did,” Shisui grinned, sitting up, dark eyes catching Itachi’s, “I pissed her off… She's over it… She’s been resting for about an hour... Don't know what she is doing now,”

Itachi raised an eyebrow walking closer to his cousin, stopping just in front of the older man. “What did you do?” Itachi asked, dark eyes glancing back to the mouth of the cave. Kaida and Shisui often argue like siblings, but it didn’t usually lead to drawing blood. Even when they did throw things or punch each other, it was in a joking way, not an I’m going to hurt you way. 

“I’ll get the fish ready for us… You get some berries for Kaida?” Shisui started avoiding Itachi’s question for the moment. Not that he was scared of Itachi’s reaction to his joke. Itachi wouldn’t hit him. Itachi would just be irritated at his joke. The man never found his jokes about Kaida funny.

Itachi’s eyes snapped back to his cousins, “Of course I did… What did you say, Shisui?”

“Something stupid… Just go see if your little Firecracker is resting. When I went in, she was taking her sling and splint off,” Shisui sighed, dark eyes connecting back with his cousin, who raised an eyebrow at him. Shisui grinned, taking the four fishes Itachi held out to him, “Go ahead, you about the only one who can deal with her,” he said, nodding towards the cave. He watched his cousin nod slightly before walking off towards the cave. Shaking his head, Shisui started preparing the fish so they would be able to cook them.

“She enjoys being difficult,” Itachi sighed, dragging a hand through his bangs, a smile tugging to his lips. Turning, Itachi ignored the laughing coming from his cousin as he walked towards the cave. “Do you need help?” Itachi asked softly, stopping a few feet from his blue-haired fiance.  _ ‘My fiancee,’ _ he thought, a smile stretching on his face, dark eyes softening as he looked Kaida up and down. She certainly wasn’t resting like he had asked her to. No, she was pacing, cursing under her breath. His dark eyes caught on his shirt hanging loosely around her, even with the way he cut the shirt. The fabric still looked like it was swallowing her, one side slipping off her slender shoulder. Itachi smirked, seeing the Uchiha symbol displayed on her back. Her light blue hair tugged over her shoulder, revealing the proud symbol. Showing she was going to be his. Itachi's smirk turned into a wide smile as Kaida spun and turned her frustrated light eyes on him, throwing her headband at him. 

“I can’t get the fucking thing on with one hand,” she growled, eyes narrowing as Itachi let out a deep laugh moving towards her. Craning her head to look at him as he came closer, leaving only a breath between them.

“Ah…” he nodded, his large hand coming up to cradle her jaw, thumb stroking her cheek. Itachi smirked as she leaned into his touch with a sigh, tension easing out of her body. “Having a broken arm can make that hard…” he started wrapping his other arm around her waist, still holding on to her headband. Kaida sighed, leaning into his chest breathing in his calming scent. “So why is Shisui bleeding again?” Itachi asked, breathing in deep, taking notice of the pain he could still feel from her. ‘ _ She needs to sit and rest. All this pacing is making it worse, _

“He’s an asshole…” she muttered against his chest, tilting her head back to rest her chin on his chest at the small tug at the base of her skull. Looking up, she found Itachi’s dark eyes focused on her, one of his dark eyebrows raised. “What was he doing?”

“He said...He made a joke about me not being able to protect myself," she sighed, fingers playing with Itachi's necklace.

"Hmm... So you hit him?” 

"Well, I didn't mean to break his nose... I missed,”

Itachi snorted, pressing his lips to her forehead, laughing, “Must you two hit each other like children?” Itachi sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Yes… Yes, we must… because Firecracker can be as violent as her fire…, ”

Itachi raised an eyebrow at his cousin’s dark eyes snapping back to Kaida at the sound of her snorting. 

"And you couldn't dodge?" She asked, sarcasm filling her voice as much as her amusement, “I mean, I’m fast, but you know you kinda famous for being  _ fast _ ,”

Shisui laughed at Kaida's comment. Fast the girl was. She landed hits on him and Itachi pretty often, a lot more often than people would think, "That and I kind of deserved the punch this time," he shrugged.

"Yes, you fucking did," Kaida respond.

Itachi chuckled, “That’s enough, you two... We have more missions,” Itachi sighed, pushing Kaida’s hair back out of her face before carefully tying her headband into place. “Is that okay?” he asked softly. He honestly didn't want to complete more missions with Kaida being hurt, but they were ordered too. Though if she felt like she couldn't keep going, he could find a way to get them home.

“We’re Anbu… It’s our jobs,” she nodded, moving to lean back against his chest. His touch was warm and relaxing. It made her forget about the ache in her arm and ribs. "I'll be fine,"

Itachi hummed, leaning down to press his lips to the top of her head, dark eyes catching the grin his cousin was shooting them, “We have quite a few more missions to finish on the way home… A messenger hawk delivered the scroll to me with the information while I was fishing. I’ll read the contents to you two over breakfast,” Itachi asked, looking over to his cousin at the feeling of Kaida nodding against him.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing thoughts (well reading lol). Let me know what you guys think.


End file.
